INHERITING  THE  EARTH 


•^ 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON    •    CHICAGO    •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA    •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON    •    BOMBAY    ■    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OP  CANADA.  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

OR 

THE  GEOGRAPHICAL  FACTOR 
IN  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 


BY 
O.  D.  VON  ENGELN,  Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY    IN    CORNELL   UNIVERSITY,    MEM- 
BER   OF    THE    ASSOCIATION    OF    AMERICAN    GEOGRAPHERS 


iI5eto  gotfc 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1922 


All  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN   THE   UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA 


Copyright,  1922, 
By  THE   MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


Set  up  and  printed.     Published  May,  1922. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Company 

New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 


In  brief,  the  theme  of  these  chapters  is  that  Place  con- 
stitutes the  essential  and  significant  basis  of  all  human 
association. 

Although  the  potency  of  environment  in  shaping  the 
affairs  of  men  has  long  been  urged  by  geographers,  and 
i  while  the  truth  of  this  .contention  has  won  some  recogni- 
r*>  tion  from  students  of  history,  sociology,  and  economics,  yet 
<v  the  dominance  of  environmental  control  has  not  been  gen- 
P*  erally  accepted  as  an  adequate  foundation  for  a  complete 
'jj   theory  of  history. 

0  The  author  is  content  to  accept  any  denial  of  the  ulti- 
mate importance  of  geography  in  shaping  the  past  of  man- 
kind. This  book  has  been  written,  not  so  much  to  show 
that  human  organization  and  development  have  been  de- 
termined by  geographic  conditions,  as  to  insist  that  in 
the  future  they  should  be.  Nor  does  the  author  even  hope 
that  these  pages  will  bring  about  any  marked  changes  in 
the  policies  of  statesmen.  But  this  collection  and  restate- 
ment of  the  geographic  factors  involved  in  the  rational 
occupation  of  the  earth  by  man  should  prove  useful  if  it 
help  only  a  little  to  focus  attention  on  the  importance  of 
home,  and  on  the  need  for  effective  utilization  of  environ- 
mental resources ;  in  the  life  of  peoples  and  the  welfare  of 
nations. 

Historians,  while  generally  keen  to  deny  that  environ- 
ment plays  any  dominant  role  in  ordering  the  succession  of 

v 


vi  PKEFACE 

human  events,  nevertheless,  as  a  rule,  have  tacitly  admitted 
the  underlying  truth  of  such  a  dictum  by  entitling  their 
studies  histories  of  France,  of  Europe,  of  Virginia,  and 
so  on.  While  it  has  been  said  that  history  is  written 
without  intelligence,  it  might  much  more  truly  be  as- 
serted that  the  human  failures  and  futilities  of  which 
the  historian,  perforce,  makes  laborious  note  do  truly 
indicate  man's  record  of  persistent  stupidity  and  ob- 
stinacy. The  natural  universe  functions  perfectly.  In 
it  complete  adjustment  and  co-ordination  prevail  down 
to  the  smallest  organism;  history  in  sum  is  the  record 
of  Man,  endowed  with  free  will,  refusing  at  first  to  con- 
form to  his  environment  and,  hence,  being  buffeted  about 
by  Nature  until  he  comes  to  terms  with  her. 

The  response  to  environment  has  varied  in  kind  with 
time  and  place,  and  several  varieties  of  harmonious  ad- 
justment may  be  possible  at  one  place,  but  permanency 
of  communal  life  is  possible  only  on  the  basis  of  some 
successful  adaptation  of  life  to  place.  The  real  fault  of 
historians  is,  not  that  they  fail  to  realize  that  the  regions 
of  the  earth  are  the  stage  of  man's  activities,  but  in  that 
they  insist,  once  the  stage  is  provided,  that  the  actors  can 
put  on  any  play  they  see  fit.  Not  so.  If  the  theatrical 
stage  is  too  large  or  too  small,  if  needful  scenery  is  lacking, 
if  the  lighting  is  not  of  the  right  kind,  certain  effects  can 
not  be  attained.  Plays  varied  in  type  may,  perhaps,  be 
equally  well  enacted  on  the  same  stage  with  the  same  appur- 
tenances; that  is,  on  the  world  stage  different  human 
societies  successively  introduced  to  a  like  environment  will 
develop  different,  yet,  in  each  case,  admirable  results.  To 
postulate  more  than  this  is  to  make  the  historical  case  as 


PEEFACE  vii 

weak  as  that  of  the  anthropogeographer  who  finds  an 
environmental  explanation  for  each  and  every  individual 
human  trait. 

The  peace,  prosperity,  and  progress  of  all  the  world,  and 
the  spread  of  civilization  to  all  its  parts,  will  he  most 
rapidly  and  surely  attained  when  once  the  idea  has  become 
generally  accepted  that  all  men  will  profit  most  by  per- 
mitting and  encouraging  everywhere  the  most  effective 
utilization  of  natural  resources.  Only  by  that  means  can 
the  maximum  production  of  all  commodities  be  secured. 
This  may  seem  a  very  materialistic  concept  of  human  des- 
tiny, but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  only  after 
man's  needs  are  supplied  can  he  give  time  and  energy 
to  study  and  contemplation.  The  future  of  nations  is  as- 
sured when  they  have  learned  to  inherit  the  earth  and  the 
fulness  thereof. 

On  such  a  basis  it  might  appear  that  the  field  of  this 
book  lies  in  the  domain  of  economics  rather  than  in  that 
of  geography.  The  respective  fields  of  the  two  sciences 
are,  however,  made  clearly  distinct  when  economics  is  de- 
fined as  the  study  of  man  earning  a  living,  and  geography 
as  the  study  of  man  earning  a  living  at  a  certain  place;  in 
other  words,  geography  is  the  regional  application  of  the 
principles  and  statistics  of  economic  and  other  science. 

President  Nevin  M.  Fenneman  of  the  Association  of 
American  Geographers  was  able  to  devise  a  very  happy, 
graphic  representation  of  the  relation  of  regional 
geography  to  other  fields  of  knowledge ;  it  is  his  diagram, 
with  some  modifications,  that  appears  on  the  title-page  of 
this  volume.     The  all-surrounding,  pervasive,  and  inter- 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


acting  elements  that  constitute  the  milieu  1  or  environment 
are  analyzed  by  special  sciences,  and  the  appropriate  facts 
and  principles  thus  singled  out  are  synthetized  and  de- 
scriptively applied  by  geography  with  reference  to  areas 
and  regions.  Fundamentally,  nations  are  territorial  so- 
cieties, whether  or  not  organized  into  states,  and  hence  re- 
gional geography  serves  its  essential  purpose  in  describing, 
explaining,  and  rationalizing  the  relation  of  human  activ- 
ity to  place. 

To  sum  up,  then,  human  society,  whether  considered  in 
national  units  or  with  reference  to  the  self-expression  of 
the  individual,  is  most  intimately  and  immediately,  if  not 
exclusively,  affected  by  place.  Accordingly,  if  it  is  desired 
to  understand  fully  either  the  nature  or  the  future  of  na- 
tions, or  how  the  earth  and  its  resources,  as  the  legacy  of 
man,  shall  be  inherited  most  richly,  it  is  necessary  to  make 
the  background,  which  is  comprised  of  regional  geography, 
the  initial  field  of  study  and  also  to  realize  this  background 
fully  before  attempting  formulations  of  any  kind. 

Barbados,  B.  \V.  I.,  20  January,  1922. 
1A.  H.  Koller,  "The  Theory  of  Environment,"  Menasha,  Wis.,  1918. 


CONTENTS 

PAOB 

Chapter  I.    The  Dissimilarity  of  Nations 1 

Current  concept  that  nations  are  comparable  units — 
Failure  to  distinguish  clearly  between  nation  and  state — 
Tentative  definition  of  each — Significance  of  the  term, 
sovereign  state — State  ephemeral,  nationality  persistent — 
The  average  tolerable  relation  of  state  and  nation — Con- 
siderations involved  by  the  terms,  nation,  state,  subject 
people,  submerged  nationality — Implications  of  self-deter- 
mination  as   applied  to  nations. 

Test  for  nationality  as  such — Pretensions  of  race,  lan- 
guage, religion,  as  determinants  of  nationality — Differences 
in  colour  of  the  skin  due  to  geographical  isolation — Origin 
of  racial  antipathies — Amalgamation  of  different  races 
into  single  nationalities — Japan,  Brazil,  United  States, 
Mexico,  Canada,  Jews — Race  as  distinguished  by  head 
form — Relation  to  European  nationality — Insufficiency  of 
race  as  criterion  of  nationality — Difficulties  of  differen- 
tiating between  nations  on  basis  of  language — Balkans, 
Switzerland,  Belgium,  Canada,  Poland,  United  States — 
Defects  of  the  unit-language  group — Religion  generally 
more  effective  in  bringing  about  disintegration  than  con- 
solidation of  nations — Instances  of  the  potency  of  religion 
in  bringing  about  national  coherence — The  institution  of 
government  in  its  relation  to  nationality — Example  of 
Russia — Of  Austria-Hungary — Of  India — Strong  govern- 
ment may  be  the  expression  of  national  will — In  Japan, 
in  Germany,  in  the  United  States,  in  China — Democracies 
indicative  of  nationalities  they  represent — Adherence  to  a 
leader  as  an  expression  of  nationality — On  the  basis  of 
commonly  accepted  criteria  of  nationality  nations  are  di- 
verse units — Environment  as  a  determinant  of  nationality. 

Chapter  II.     The  Land  and  the  People 33 

Distinction  between  terms  "nation,"  "state,"  "country" 
— Possession  of  place  fundamental  bond  of  nationality — 
Failure  of  historians  and  economists  to  follow  up  recogni- 
tion of  environmental  influence  by  consideration  of  this 
factor  in  their  discussions — Dominance  of  environment 
recognized  by  biologists — Germ-plasm  of  different  races 
little  differentiated — Essential  physiographic  uniformity 
of  world  environment  during  evolution  of  human  species — 


x  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Same  true  of  climate — Racial  environment  essentially 
static — Nationality  is  mental  and  physical  adaptation  of 
the  individual  to  place  in  which  he  lives — Immobility  of 
the  human  individual — Continuity  of  contact,  determining 
factor  in  extension  of  nationality,  possible  only  with  agri- 
cultural occupation  of  land — Effect  of  commercial  contacts 
on  expansion  of  national  identity. 

Effect  of  change  of  national  environment  on  the  individ- 
ual— Varying  conditions  of  adaptation — The  factor  of 
emulation — Competition  of  superior  and  inferior  groups 
in  same  area — Dominance  of  English-speaking  people  in 
the  United  States — Assimilation  of  Germans — Local  en- 
vironmental adaptations  deterrent  to  realization  of  larger 
nationality. 

Chapter  III.    The  Nation  and  the  Place 60 

The  composition  of  environment — Culture  not  environ- 
ment, but  a  product  of  environment — Individuals  of  the 
nation  on  equal  footing  with  others  of  their  class — Dis- 
tinction between  those  of,  and  those  within,  the  national 
group — Difficulties  of  establishing  correlations  of  nation 
and  place  in  modern  instances — Effect  of  individual  initi- 
ative on  variations  in  national  culture. 

Evidence  of  specific  correlation  between  place  and  nation 
to  be  sought  among  primitive  folk — Place  in  its  relation  to 
human  opportunity,  necessity,  protection — Marked  varia- 
-  tion  in  environmental  conditions,  within  narrow  geograph- 
ical areas,  adverse  to  development  of  nationality  by  primi- 
tive peoples — Natural  classification  of  regions  of  world — 
Possibilities  and  limitations  of  group  organization  in 
tropical  lowlands,  in  arctic  lands,  in  desert  lands,  in  steppe 
lands,  in  desert  oases — Relation  of  irrigation  practice  to 
early  development  of  national  culture — Egyptian  and  Meso- 
potamian  beginnings — Failure  of  the  Assyrian  empire — The 
Mediterranean  sites — Nationalization  of  Europe — Isolation 
of  tropical   uplands. 

Limitations  of  the  geographical  argument — Instances, 
however,  of  surprising  changes  ascribable  only  to  environ- 
ment— The  Boers — Change  of  head  form  in  American 
immigrants — Conclusion. 

Chapter  IV.  The  Individual  and  the  Nation  ....  86 
Significance  of  patriotism — Possible  origins  of  patriotism 
— Eventual  attainment  of  world  amity  as  related  to  na- 
tionalist patriotism — Desirability  of  promoting  acceptance 
of  spatial  origin  of  patriotism — Modern  wars  dangerous 
to  civilization  only  when  conflict  occurs  between  indus- 
trially advanced  groups — Outworn  loyalties — The  herd  in- 
stinct and  physical  prowess — With  establishment  of  in- 
stitution of  private  property  superior  capability  of  indi- 


CONTENTS  xi 


vidual  ceases  to  be  social  asset — Variations  of  individual 
competence  the  stumbling-block  of  socialism — Danger  of 
class  strife  replacing  international  violence. 

Primitive  patriotic  animus  fostered  for  group  defence, 
but  prostituted  to  other  ends — Conquest  for  national  profit, 
Rome — National  realization  on  conquest  feasible  only 
on  basis  of  loot  and  enslavement — Effect  of  exploitation 
of  world  as  a  colonial  estate — Only  dynastic  and  capital- 
istic interests  capable  of  perverting  patriotism — History 
.  of  the  German  military  machine — Opportunity  afforded 
to  individuals  of  a  nation  by  colonial  holdings,  Britain 
and  India — Average  citizen  permits  exploitation  of  his 
patriotic  animus  for  considerations  of  national  prestige 
— Allurement  of  possible  material   advantage. 

Patriotism  a  manifestation  of  neighbourliness — Neigh- 
bourliness arises  from  human  contacts  and  promotes  amica- 
ble relations — Nature  of  neighbourly  contact  in  different 
situations — Effectiveness  of  neighbourhood  loyalty — Exten- 
sion of  neighbourhood  loyalty  to  national  patriotism — 
Origin  and  content  of  public  opinion — International  an- 
imosity a  magnified  neighbourhood  feud. 

Strength  of  home  and  fatherland  associations — Reactions 
to  environmental  change  by  individual  and  community — 
The  position  of  the  international  policeman — International 
guarantee  of  security  of  life  and  property  might  promote 
more  intensive  national  patriotism — Example  of  the  United 
States. 

Chapter   V.    International   Anaecht    vs.    International 
Amity 

Evidence  of  original  gregariousness  of  man,  and  amity 
between  human  groups— Genesis  of  tribal  organization  and 
intertribal  hostility — Tribesmen  commonly  rival  cannibal 
hunters — Relation  of  woman  to  ideas  of  property  and  dom- 
ination— Numerical  expansion  of  the  originally  tribal 
group  a  measure  of  progress — Merging  of  intergroup  in- 
*    terests  continues  to  be  resisted. 

Commerce  has  prevented  national  isolation — War,  prim- 
itively, functioned  as  does  commerce — Institution  of  war 
so  long  perpetuated  because  its  victims  rendered  inar- 
ticulate by  death — Realization,  in  some  measure,  of  the 
futility  of  war  led  to  barter— Early  methods  of  foreign 
trade — Carthaginian  procedure — Origin  of  the  sense  of 
community  ownership  of  land — Numerical  enlargement  of 
group  occasioned  by  more  intensive  development  of  terri- 
torial resources — Effect  of  numerical  expansion  in  break- 
ing down  coherence  as  based  on  blood  kinship — This  ac- 
'  companied  by  increasing  realization  of  occupation  owner- 
ship  of   land  as  the  essential  bond  of  communities. 


PAGE 


113 


xii  CONTENTS 


Case  of  the  Paiute  Indians,  of  Australian  natives,  of 
,  the  Eskimo — Status  of  fisher  folk  in  temperate  lands — 
Transition  of  fisher  and  pastoral  nomad  tribes  to  an  agri- 
cultural basis  of  existence — Increased  density  of  regional 
population  possible  with  chief  dependence  on  agriculture 
— Enlargement  of  single,  primitive  fisher-agricultural 
groups  by  fission,  colonization,  and  confederation — Intro- 
duction of  new  blood  into  the  kinship  group — Situation 
on  water  bodies  facilitates  transportation  and  commerce 
— Early  navigation  of  the  Nile  and  in  Mesopotamia — The 
first  great  commercial  centres — Religion  as  a  tribal  bond 
— Clan  gods   and  regional  gods. 

Effect  of  the  founding  of  cities — Superior  advantages 
of  particular  sites  in  a  general  region — Thebes — Defensi- 
ble sites  and  religious  shrines — Development  of  the  city- 
state — Basis  of  cohesion  in  the  city-state  and  its  succes- 
sors— City-states  an  expression  of  development  arrested 
'  by  environmental  limitations — Dominance  of  the  few — 
Comparison  of  organization  of  city-states  and  modern 
nation-states — Nature  of  international   rivalry. 

Steppe  lands  breeders  of  empire  builders — Caravan 
trade  means  through  which  co-operative  effort  between 
nomad  groups  made  possible — Effect  of  drouth  on  nomad 
regime — Nature  of  the  nomad  invasion — Results  of  nomad 
conquest — Significance  of  later  empires  of  conquest — Rise 
of  nationalism — The  course  of  history — Question  of  the 
future. 

Chapteb  VI.    Independence  oe  Interdependence  of  Nations    157 

Governments  of  nation-states  exist  for  the  welfare  of 
whole  of  their  populations — National  government  responsi- 
ble to,  and  for,  the  people — Hence  individual  owes  state 
a  duty — State  promotes  material  well-being  in  peace,  pro- 
vides defence  in  war — The  vice  of  most  of  the  firmly  es- 
tablished nation-states  is  that  they  seek  development  and 
expansion  at  expense  of  other  groups,  reasons. 

Nations,  unhampered,  prosper  according  to  the  natural 
resources  of  their  territories  and  the  competence  and  initi- 
ative of  their  populations — Plight  of  nation  of  poor  nat- 
ural endowment — Economy  of  production  of  given  product 
varies  with  region — The  obvious  argument  for  free  trade. 

Effects  of  imposition  of  protective  tariff-duties  on  na- 
tional economy:  diminishes  imports,  perhaps  brings  about 
favourable  balance  of  trade,  leads  to  higher  money  incomes 
in  protected  country,  lower  incomes  in  exporting  countries 
— Distribution  of  benefits  of  protection — Ultimate  un- 
happy outcome  of  protective  policy  has  so  far  been  pre- 
vented by  continued  expansion  of  world  commerce — Traders 
get  higher  prices  and  easy  credit  under   protective  tariff 


CONTENTS  xiii 

PAGE 

— Benefits  to  nation  as  a  whole — Stock  arguments  in  favour 
of  protection — Effect  of  granting  subsidies  as  illustrated 
by  methods  used  in  promoting  local  enterprises — Underlying 
motive  of  protective  tariff  policy  is  to  handicap  for- 
eign competitors — Efforts  so  directed  also  negatived  by 
progressive  expansion  of  world  commerce — Effect  of  pro- 
tective tariff  on  foreign  monopoly-control  of  a  commod- 
ity— The  practice  of  dumping — Protection  for  defence — 
Reasons  for  the  popularity  of  the  protectionist  doctrine. 

Nations  do  not  trade  as  corporate  units — Fallacy  of 
the  favourable  balance  of  trade — Decline  in  both  national 
imports  and  exports  an  occasion  for  apprehension — Desir- 
ability of  increasing  the  volume  of  imports  of  raw  ma- 
terials— Effect  of  expansion  of  world  commerce  as  illus- 
trated by  recent  history  of  the  tin-plate  industry — Effect 
of  notable  increase  in  efficiency  of  ocean  transportation 
on   world  commerce. 

Effect  of  undue  accumulation  of  capital  on  domestic  in- 
dustry— Home  investment  of  capital — Underconsumption 
and  panics — Export  capital  invested  in  industrially  ad- 
vanced nations;  in  backward  countries — International 
rivalry  in  capitalistic  exploitation  of  backward  regions — 
Origin  of  export  capital — Possible  ways  of  retaining  export 
capital  for  home  needs — The  investment  lure  of  backward 
countries — Immediate  cause  of  Russo-Japanese  war — Case 
of  the  Turkish  railroad  concession — Labour  conditions  in 
backward  countries — Additional  opportunity  for  export 
capital  in  political  domination  of  backward  regions — 
Dangers  to  the  home  nation  of  such  domination — Cost  of 
empire  to  the  nation  vastly  in  excess  of  total  gains  of 
individuals — But  not  even  largest  nations  self-sufficient 
— World  problem  is  to  bring  about  recognition  of  inter- 
dependence of  nations  and  to  secure  fullest  utilization  of 
world  resources. 

Chapter    VII.      Inheriting    the    Earth — The    Temperate 

Zones        206 

Relation  of  ancient  Egyptian  to  modern  civilization — 
Stability  of  the  Egyptian  regimes — Egypt's  self-sufficiency 
— Population  and  food  supply  in  ancient  Egypt,  in  China, 
.  in  India — Different  bases  of  Oriental  and  Occidental  cul- 
•  ture — Wider  opportunity  of  civilization  in  temperate  lands 
— Significance  of  transportation  development — Babylonian 
trade  and  transportation;  Phoenician — Home  resources 
fundamental  to  commercial  expansion — Frontier  trade  of 
the  Phoenicians — Detachment  from  soil  responsible  for  fail- 
ure of  Phoenician  nationality — Greek  colonies — Difficulties 
of  the  Greek  environment — Significance  of  Roman  roads — 
Steam  power. 


xiv  CONTENTS 


Problem  of  the  nations  situated  in  the  temperate  lands — 
.  Assurance  of  persistence  of  nationality — Localization  of 
industry — Conservation  and  public  development  of  natural 
resources — Extensive  or  intensive  agriculture — Suburban- 
ization of  industry — Reasons  for  countryward  movement 
of  industry — Population  and  subsistence — World's  foods 
home-produced — Elimination  of  wastes — Opening  up  of  new 
lands — Stoppage  of  immigration  into  countries  having  no 
exportable  food  surplus — Stationary  population  and  the 
standard  of  living — Decrease  in  the  rate  of  return  on  cap- 
ital investment — Quantity  production  and  consumption — 
Equality  of  sacrifice  in  labour. 

Export  of  capital — Open-door  policy — Interdependence 
of  nations — Difficulties  in  establishing  free  and  fair  com- 
petition in  production — Trade  wars  in  the  states  before 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution — Lubin's  pro- 
posal— Expansion  of  trade  by  industrial  development  of 
backward  regions — Defect  of  American-South  American 
and  American-Asiatic  foreign  trade — Desirability  of  buy- 
ing from  foreign  customers. 

The  parasitic  middlemen — High  overhead  cost  of  retail 
business — Consumer's  ignorance  of  costs — Social  signifi- 
cance of  co-operative  buying — Discriminatory  charges  of 
professional  men — Relation  of  government  to  economic 
welfare  of  people — The  desire  for  keeping  in  office — Strug- 
gle of  the  interests — Publicity  and  government — Reform 
of  the  press — Complete  utilization  of  the  temperate  zones 
— Effect   of   development   of   the   industrial   arts. 

Chapter  VIII.  Inheriting  the  Earth — The  Conquest  of 
the  Tropics.  (Part  I.  The  Complementary  Status, 
the  Environment  and  the  Resources  of  the  Tropics)      262 

Expansion  of  the  world's  population — Food  supply  vs. 
population — The  diminishing  meat  supply— Inefficiency  of 
domestic  animals  as  food  elaborating  devices — The  sea  pas- 
tures— Handicaps  to  agricultural  utilization  of  new  lands 
— Cheap  food  of  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century — 
Intensification  of  temperate-zone  agriculture — Relief 
through  multiplication  of  power  resources  and  improved 
mechanical  processing — Increasing  specialization  in  pro- 
duction and  interchange  of  temperate-zone  products — 
Equatorial  lands  prospective  source  of  most  crudes  of  inter- 
national commerce. 

North  and  south  world  trade  should  dominate  in  the 
future  as  it  has  in  the  past — Tropical  lands  at  present 
relatively  unutilized — Steady  temperatures  are  the  uni- 
form, characteristic,  climatic  mark  of  the  tropics — Con- 
trast between  temperate  zone,  temperature  extremes  and 
tropical  land,  temperature  uniformity — Climatic  differences 


CONTENTS  xv 

.  PAGE 

of  tropical  areas  result  fromf'  rainfall  variations — Classifi- 
cation of  tropical  climates — The  tropical  rain  forest — The 
tropical  jungle — The  tropical  steppe  and  desert  lands. 

Modern  dependence  on  tropical  produce — 'Importance 
of  rice — Of  sugar  cane — Of  the  coconut — Of  palm  oil  and 
palm  nut — Of  tropical  fruits — Of  other  tropical  food  prod- 
ucts— Of  rubber — Of  other  raw  materials  of  industry — Of 
fibres — Of  timber  resources — Of  mineral  resources — Diffi- 
culties of  development  of  transportation  facilities  in  the 
tropics — Water-power   possibilities. 

Chapter  .IX.     Inheriting  the  Earth — TnE  Conquest  of  the 

Tropics.      (Part  II.     The  Human  Factor)    ....      305 

Adaptation  of  human  society  to  temperate  lands — Tem- 
perate-land institutions  not  necessarily  suitable  to  trop- 
ical areas — White  labour  in  the  tropics — Significance 
of  _  uplands  in  tropical  development  by  wtiites — Con- 
ditions and  difficulties  of  acclimatization  of  whites — Ne- 
cessity of  recruiting  the  coloured  races  for  labour  in  the 
tropics — Varietal  deficiency  of  native  foods  in  the  tropics — 
Overpopulation  and  famine  in  the  tropics — Positive  checks 
on  population  in  tropical  areas  where  the  food  supply  is 
free — The  culture  areas  of  the  tropics  are  the  regions  of 
overpopulation— Varying  wage  and  living  standards  in  the 
West  Indies — Relative  effectiveness  of  various  types  of  trop- 
ical labourers — Land  and  labour  relationships  in  the 
tropics — Sex  problem  of  the  tropics — Competition  between 
the  coloured  races — Physical  superiority  of  the  Chinese. 

Alternative  solutions  of  the  problem  of  tropical  develop- 
ment— Reciprocal  rights  of  coloured  and  white  races  in 
tropical  resources — Present  political  control  of  the  tropics 
— Alien  acquirement  of  land  ownership  in  the  tropics — 
Historical  order*  of  European  invasion  of  the  tropics — 
Ancient  tropical  colonies  were  farm  colonies — Ancient 
Chinese  emigrants — Change  in  conditions  of  tropical  con- 
quest during  discoveries  period — Achievement  of  modern 
nationality  by  Portuguese  and  Spaniards — Nature  of  the 
first  tropical  contacts  made  by  the  settlers  in  the  East — 
The  African  slave  stations — Difficulties  of  the  Brazilian 
colonies — Large  scale  importation  of  negro  slave  labour — 
Spanish  development  of  the  West  Indies — Nature  of  the 
Spanish  occupation  of  the  Philippines — Motives  of  the 
Dutch  in  tropical  exploitation — Succession  of  the  Dutch 
to  the  East  India  trade — Dutch  procedure  in  the  tropics — 
The  culture  system — Modern  compulsion  of  tropical  labour. 

European  domination  of  tropical  production  need  not 
involve  complete  political  control — Selfish,  nationalistic 
policies  in  administration  of  tropical  colonies  to  be  con- 
demned—Coloured races  entitled  to   equality   of  economic 


xvi  CONTENTS 

opportunity — Industrial  education  necessary  to  make  equal- 
ity of  opportunity  possible — Cost  of  vocational  training  a 
difficulty — Funds  that  may  be  made  available  for  educa- 
tion— Effect  of  industrial  education  of  the  natives — In- 
culcation of  system  of  surplus  economy — Effect  of  payment 
in  kind. 

Manual  labour  of  whites  in  competition  with  that  of 
coloured  races — The  sensory  effects  of  the  rain-forest 
climate — Jungle  lands  the  possible  sites  of  South  European 
farm  colonies — Development  of  the  rain-forest  areas  with 
contract  labour — Establishment  of  permanent  colonies  of 
coolies — Superiority  of  the  Chinese  coolie  as  a  settler  in 
tropical  colonies — Political  aspirations  of  Indian  coolies 
— Need  for  regional  geographic  surveys  of  tropical  regions 


INHERITING  THE  EARTH 


INHERITING  THE   EARTH 

OR 

THE  GEOGRAPHICAL  FACTOR  IN 
NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    DISSIMILARITY    OF    NATIONS 

Nations  are  popularly  conceived  to  be  essentially  like 
units,  to  constitute  different  items,  merely,  of  one  general 
class.  The  first  resort  of  the  man  in  the  street,  in  giving 
expression  to  his  pride  of  nationality,  is  to  make  compari- 
sons to  the  disparagement  of  foreign  nations.  Nor  is  the 
average  man  alone  in  this  practice.  The  journalists,  the 
political  and  the  historical  writers  share  with  him  the 
conception  of  the  categorical  unity  of  nations  and  are 
prone  to  indulge  in  the  like  invidious  comparisons.  But 
the  implication  of  likeness  between  nations,  on  which  these 
comparisons  are  all  based,  is  seldom,  if  ever,  abstractly 
considered  by  those  who  use  them  most  freely  in  their 
arguments.  It  is  simply  assumed  that  nations  differ,  one 
from  another,  only  relatively,  and  in  respect  of  attributes 
possessed  by  all  in  common;  thus,  as  to  size,  systems  of 
government,  and  the  particular  characteristics  of  the 
groups  of  peoples   comprising  the   several  nationalities. 

Coupled  with  this  idea  of  the  similarity  of  nations  there  is 

1 


2  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

also  entertained,  quite  as  generally,  a  conviction  that  there 
exists  a  single  factor  that  establishes  and  defines  the  co- 
herence and  homogeneity  of  each  nation,  and  which,  by 
mutation,  serves  also  as  the  criterion  for  differentiating 
between  nations.  While  opinions  will  vary  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  this  factor,  it  would  probably  be  asserted  most  fre- 
quently that  possession  of  a  common  language  and  litera- 
ture sufficiently  marks  and  identifies  a  nationality. 

The  propensity  to  regard  nations  as  comparable  units 
is  warranted,  for  nations  are  items  of  the  same  kind,  but 
it  is  also  true  that  the  factor  on  which  national  similarity 
is  actually  based  is  not  at  all  appreciated.  It  is  necessary, 
hence,  to  enlarge  first  on  the  dissimilarities  of  nations  with 
the  purpose  of  making  clear  that  the  popular  assumption 
of  their  comparable  likenesses  rests  on  misconceptions  in 
regard  to  the  uniform  recurrence  of  the  national  attri- 
butes that  are  generally  made  to  serve  as  distinguishing 
qualities. 

A  chief  difficulty  in  arriving  at  a  rational  understand- 
ing of  nations  is  the  fact  that  no  distinction  is  usually 
made  between  state  and  nation,  as  a  preface  to  thought 
and  discussion.  While  the  word  state  is  not  commonly 
applied  as  a  synonym  for  nation,  nation  is  often  used  when 
the  reference  actually  is  to  a  state.  A  state  may  be  defined 
as  a  system  of  government  in  force  throughout  a  given 
region,  or  regions,  of  the  earth's  land  surface,  maintained 
or  endured  by  the  groups  of  people  that  occupy  those  ter- 
ritories; and  this  system  constitutes  the  means  by  which 
the  collective  will  of  the  peoples  concerned,  or,  usually, 
of  the  dominant  group  among  them,  is  expressed  to  the 
governmental  regimes  of  other  states.     Nations,  on  the 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS  3 

other  hand,  are  groups  of  people  bound  together  by  some 
condition  that  makes  for  like-mindedness  in  each  particu- 
lar group  and  that  develops,  incidentally,  in  each  group 
certain  characteristics,  readily  discernible  by  members 
of  other  groups,  that  serve  as  criteria  for  distinguishing 
between  nationalities. 

Presumably  it  is  because  states — that  is,  systems  of 
government — are  considered  identical  and  coincident  with 
nations  (and  hence  are  expressive  of  the  like-mindedness, 
within  the  group,  that  characterizes  nations)  that  the  idea 
of  similarity  of  nations  has  become  rooted  in  popular 
thought.  The  basis  for  such  a  linking  together  of  nation 
and  state  is  evident  in  the  term,  sovereign  state.  As  indi- 
cated by  this  expression,  states  are  supreme  in  governing 
the  relations  of  the  individual  citizen  to  his  neighbours, 
and  also  those  he  has  with  residents  of  foreign  states.  If 
the  citizen  goes  abroad  he  finds  that  he  must  order  his  life 
according  to  the  rule  of  the  state  he  visits.  Such  regula- 
tion is  a  very  tangible  and  ever-present  phenomenon, 
and  it  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  the  individual 
should  see  in  its  general  and  potent  enforcement  the  unify- 
ing factor  of  states,  and  hence  of  nations. 

Despite  the  fact  that  states,  in  that  they  have  this  com- 
mon characteristic  of  acting  as  the  agent  of  unit  groups 
in  expressing  the  will  of  an  organization  to  the  individual 
and  to  other  states,  are  much  more  obviously  comparable 
units  than  are  nations,  it  should  be  understood  that  states, 
too,  have  elements  of  dissimilarity  which  make  them  dis- 
tinctly unlike  each  other  as  representatives  of  the  like- 
mindedness  within  a  group  that  is  indicative  of  national- 
ity.   A  state  may  be  created  or  destroyed,  extended  or  con- 


4  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tracted,  and  such  changes  have  often  been  made  rather 
arbitrarily  at  the  will  of  a  single  man  or  a  small  group 
of  men.  Thus  the  state  is  an  ephemeral  institution  in  com- 
parison with  nationality;  which  is  much  more  enduring, 
and  is,  therefore,  a  persistent  and  pervasive  factor  in  the 
ordering  of  human  affairs.  Nationality  may,  and  does, 
survive  many  changes  of  state.  Again,  the  nationality 
bound  together  in  a  state  by  the  exercise  of  autocratic 
power  can  not  give  expression  to  national  characteristics 
and  tendencies ;  can  not,  therefore,  be  realized  as  an  entity 
by  other  peoples  in  the  same  degree,  and  as  completely,  as 
those  nationalities  that  have  a  democratic  government  and 
representative  institutions. 

It  may  be  that  the  prevailing  sense  of  equal  significance 
of  states,  despite  the  great  diversity  of  their  organiza- 
tion, is  due  to  the  fact  that  between  the  extremes  of 
autocracy  and  democracy  that  exist  there  may  also  be  found 
nearly  all  intermediate  gradations  of  constitutional  right. 
Accordingly,  while  the  divergence  exhibited  by  despotism 
and  tentative  socialism  is  recognized,  the  normal  mental 
attitude  is  to  lump  the  varying  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness,  possessed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
different  states,  into  an  average  whole  of  tolerable  exist- 
ence equally  applicable  to  all.  Word  of  conditions  notably 
worse  than  such  an  average  standard  of  tolerable  existence 
arouses  general  indignation  and  a  popular  world  demand 
for  amelioration  of  the  oppression.  The  enjoyment  of 
undue  licence,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  signal  for  appre- 
hension as  to  the  stability  of  the  state  where  the  innova- 
tions appear.  Thus  excesses  at  either  end  of  the  scale 
serve  to  establish  more  firmly,   though  erroneously,  the 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS  5 

conception  of  a  mean  of  all  states  from  which  these 
extremes  are  sporadic  departures. 

A  further  reason  for  considering  states  unlike,  as  mani- 
festations of  nationality,  is  found  in  the  actual  human 
make-up  of  the  population  of  states.  Ideally  there  should 
exist  the  combination  of  one  nation,  one  state.  Solidarity 
of  that  degree  is  suggested  by  the  use  of  the  term,  nation- 
state,  with  the  implication  that  the  relation  is  the  common 
and  expectable  one.  In  reality  it  is  the  general  absence 
of  complete  co-ordination  between  people,  government, 
and  lands  controlled  that,  above  all,  interposes  against  any 
acceptance  of  the  idea  of  the  like  composition  of  states. 
For  while  nation-state  is  a  frequently  used,  current  term, 
so  also  are  "subject  peoples"  and  "submerged  nationality." 
There  are  states  that  are  strongly  coherent,  as  govern- 
mental units,  because  of  the  coincidence  of  a  unit  nation- 
ality and  territory  controlled,  as,  for  example,  France; 
while  Austria-Hungary  was  perhaps  the  most  notorious 
example  of  the  maintenance  of  a  state,  within  the  terri- 
torial confines  of  which  the  conflict  of  a  great  variety  of 
nationalities  persisted.  In  contrast  with  Austria-Hungary 
there  is  afforded  the  peculiar  human  composition  of 
Switzerland,  a  nation  for  which  the  state  exists  primarily 
as  an  expression  of  determined  like-mindedness ;  though 
Switzerland's  population  is  comprised  of  nearly  equally 
potent,  but  quite  different,  human  groups,  which,  because 
of  the  several  languages  they  use,  are  said  to  be  of  French, 
Italian,  and  German  nationality. 

In  these  three  examples  nearly  all  possible  contradic- 
tions to  any  preconception  of  unity  in  the  human  compo- 
sition of  states  seem  to  be  summed  up.     States  are  not 


6  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

invariably,  or  even  usually,  the  expression  of  single 
nationalities;  varied  and  conflicting  nationalities  may  be 
bound  up  in  a  single  state;  what  seem  to  be  different 
nationalities  may,  by  the  establishment  of  a  state,  give 
notice  of  their  single  nationality. 

On  the  basis  of  the  evidence  cited  it  would  appear  that 
the  establishment  of  states,  and  the  development  of 
nations  as  well,  has,  in  the  past,  been  largely  fortuitous ; 
or,  in  any  event,  not  governed  by  any  single  rule.  The 
inextricable  confusion  of  the  literature  wherein  group 
units  of  territorial  control  and  of  national  existence  are 
discussed  is  probably  a  reflection  of  this  diversity  of 
origin,  and  the  failure  of  writers,  generally,  to  differen- 
tiate between  the  two.  But  the  principle  of  "the  self- 
determination  of  peoples,"  on  which  attention  has  been 
focussed  by  the  events  of  the  World  War,  and  by  its  enun- 
ciation in  so  concise  a  phrase,  promises,  if  applied,  in 
the  future  to  bring  about  a  more  general  co-ordination 
of  people,  place,  and  state;  hence  to  establish  a  real  unity 
among  nations  in  the  sense  that  these  are,  popularly,  con- 
ceived already  to  exist. 

By  "self-determination"  of  nations  is  meant  that  each 
of  the  nationalities  of  the  earth  shall  dominate  in  the  terri- 
tory which  it  occupies,  and,  presumably  also,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  any  interest  in  the  state  by  peoples  of  other  nation- 
alities; except  as  alien  individuals  may  attach  themselves 
to  a  given  group  of  their  own  free  will.  The  self  affixture 
to  the  phrase  is  its  pertinent  feature,  for  by  inclusion  of 
this  it  is  insisted  that  the  peoples  themselves  be  conscious 
of  their  like-mindedness  as  a  group ;  hence  of  the  basis  of 
their  claim  to  nationality.     Accordingly,  it  is  of  imme- 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS  7 

diate  moment  to  inquire  into  the  manner  in  which  nations 
may  find  themselves;  that  is,  to  determine  whether  there 
is  some  one  particular  test,  applicable  to  all,  by  which  one 
nation  may  be  distinguished  from  another. 

Let  it  be  admitted  that  states  are  dissimilar,  not  com- 
parable units,  that  there  is  no  direct  correlation  between 
nations  and  states  as  at  present  constituted,  and  that  where 
there  is  a  coincidence  of  state  and  unit  nationality,  the 
state  is  the  creation  of  the  nationality  and  not  the  nation- 
ality of  the  state;  it  yet  remains  that  the  regime  of  most 
states  is  the  organization  of  a  dominant  nationality, 
whether  or  not  other  nationalities  are  included  within  the 
territorial  confines  over  which  that  regime  extends.  It 
may  also  be  added,  as  a  corollary,  that,  given  sufficient 
time  and  favourable  conditions,  it  is  often  possible  for  a 
dominant  nationality  to  assimilate  alien  human  groups 
over  which  its  rule  has  been  extended.  If  then,  there  is 
found  to  be  present  in  the  dominating  groups  of  modern 
states  some  particular  kind  of  characteristic  or  attribute, 
possessed  by  all  and  transmissible  to  others,  which,  by  its 
non-gradational  change,  marks  off  nationality  from  nation- 
ality, there  will  be  available  at  once  both  the  test  that 
nations  must  use  for  their  self-determination  and  the  proof 
that  nations  are  essentially  similar  units  and  that  states, 
as  the  creations  of  dominant  nationalities,  have,  also,  fun- 
damentally, this  variance  of  a  common  factor  as  the  basis 
for  their  separate  existence,  and  are  not,  therefore,  as  has 
been  contended,  unclassifiable  in  a  single  category. 

As  has  already  been  suggested,  there  is  a  tacit  assump- 
tion of  the  existence  of  such  a  determining  and  distin- 
guishing attribute  on  which  the  popular  concept  of  the 


8  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

unity  of  nations,  and,  if  undifferentiated  from  nations, 
that  also  of  states,  is  in  part  based.  If,  however,  the  ques- 
tion is  raised  as  to  what  this  attribute  is,  opinion  will  be 
found  to  vary  greatly  according  to  authority  and  circum- 
stance. The  possibilities  most  often  cited,  in  something 
of  their  order  of  importance,  are,  race,  language,  religion, 
system  of  government,  adherence  to  a  hereditary  or  se- 
lected leader.  National  aspirations  are  considered  to  have 
been  realized  when  unity  has  been  achieved  in  one,  or 
perhaps  several,  of  these  determinants.  It  will  be  sig- 
nificant, therefore,  to  inquire  as  to  the  degree  in  which 
the  test  this  affords  holds  good  in  the  existing  marshalling 
of  the  world's  peoples,  not  only  as  marked  out  by  territo- 
rial confines  or  governmental  regime,  but  also  as  applied 
to  groups  now  unable  to  achieve  those  expressions  of 
nationality. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  the  most  firmly  estab- 
lished division  of  human  beings  into  separate  classes  is 
that  based  on  race,  as  determined  by  the  colour  of  the  skin. 
There  is  a  natural  antipathy  between  white,  yellow,  brown, 
red,  and  black  races.  This  intolerance,  apparently,  is 
based  on  a  psychological  realization  of  unlikeness ;  and 
this  unlikeness  had  its  origin  in  the  long  prehistoric 
development  of  each  race  in  geographical  isolation.  In 
ancient  historic  times  there  was  probably  little  opportunity 
for  the  several  varieties  of  the  human  species,  as  distin- 
guished by  colour  of  the  skin,  to  come  in  contact.  The 
establishment  of  intercourse  between  all  the  world  has 
been  coincident  in  time  with  the  rise  of  the  white  race  to 
world  ascendency.  While  representatives  of  all  races,  in 
groups  and  as  individuals,  are  now  scattered  over  wide 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS  9 

regions  of  the  earth  and  are  often  closely  associated,  the 
general  result  of  the  ascendency  of  the  white  race,  whose 
achievements  have  made  this  intermingling  possible,  or, 
indeed,  brought  it  about,  has  been  that  the  white  race 
holds  itself  (in  a  much  greater  degree  than  that  due  to 
normal  racial  antagonism)  aloof  from  all  the  other  races. 
On  the  other  hand,  this  more  marked  aversion,  on  the  part 
of  the  white  race,  to  intermingling  with  any  of  the  other 
races,  is  offset  by  a  certain  avidity  for  union  with  it 
exhibited  by  individuals,  at  least,  of  the  other  races. 
These  reactions,  accordingly,  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  social 
phenomenon  arising  from  the  modern  prestige  of  the  white 
race,  and  it  is  probable  that  similar  relations  of  superior 
and  inferior  race  have  occurred  on  a  more  limited  scale  in 
the  past  history  of  mankind.  Racial  repugnance  in  gen- 
eral, therefore,  may  be  the  result  of  the  accumulated 
vestigial  effects  of  such  contacts.  In  view  of  this  deep- 
rootedness  and  apparently  very  ancient  origin  of  racial 
antipathies,  it  would  also  be  expectable  to  find  that  na- 
tional groups  have  been,  and  are,  quite  universally  based 
primarily  on  kinship  of  race. 

In  a  large  measure  this  is  true,  but  there  are  exceptions. 
Thus  the  Japanese,  perhaps  as  homogeneous  a  national 
group  as  any  one  that  could  be  cited,  include  in  their 
number  a  remnant  of  Ainus,  a  people  of  Caucasian  type, 
and  perhaps  the  aboriginal  race  of  the  main  island  of 
Hondo.  This  remnant,  interestingly  enough,  is  held  to 
be  ancestral  to  the  "fine"  type  of  Japanese  aristocracy; 
that  is,  of  the  dominant  element  among  the  Japanese.  In 
the  south  of  Japan  there  is  found,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
Malay  admixture,  a  relatively  recent  addition  to  the  pre- 


10  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

vailing  Mongol  stock.  An  inquiry  made  in  815  a.d.,  by 
the  Japanese  Government,  showed  the  existence  in  the 
empire  at  that  time  of  three  great  races  or  stocks,  Kobetsu, 
Shinbetsu,  and  Banbetsu;  and,  according  to  an  analysis 
by  a  Japanese  student  in  the  present  day,  these  original 
three  great  stocks  may  be  further  distinctly  differentiated 
into  what  he  refers  to  as  "many  races."  While  the  classi- 
fication this  Japanese  makes  is  not  based  on  difference  in 
pigmentation,  it  is  nevertheless  significant  as  an  indication 
that  the  Japanese  do  not  regard  themselves  as  a  racially 
homogeneous  group ;  that  their  nationality  does  not  depend 
on  racial  unity  as  a  basic  characteristic. 

A  more  recent  amalgamation  than  that  of  the  Japanese 
of  distinctly  different  races  into  a  well-defined  national 
unit  is  encountered  in  the  Brazilian  people.  The  Portu- 
guese planters  in  Brazil  seem  to  have  had  sexual  inter- 
course, from  the  first,  with  the  African  female  slaves  whom 
they  imported,  much  more  generally  than  has  obtained 
where  similar  economic  relations  between  white  and  black 
have  existed  elsewhere.  In  consequence  of  this  racial 
intermixture  a  large  population  of  metis,  or  half-breeds, 
developed  in  Brazil  at  a  very  early  date.  Marriages  be- 
tween these  metis  and  whites  do  not  meet  with  disdain 
today  in  even  the  highest  social  circles  of  the  country. 
The  metis  are  fully  as  patriotic  as  any  class  of  Brazilians, 
have  fought  heroically  in  the  Brazilian  armies,  and  it  was 
with  their  support  that  the  Brazilian  republic  was  erected 
on  the  ruins  of  the  empire.  As  a  result,  many  able  mu- 
lattoes  gained  high  political  office  under  the  new  regime 
and  they  continue  to  hold  similar  positions.  White,  black, 
and  mixed  bloods  of  the  two  races  compose  the  Brazilian 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        11 

nation.  Theodore  Roosevelt  *  was  much  impressed  by  this 
relationship  of  races  as  he  found  it  in  Brazil,  and  the  idea 
that  there  prevailed,  that  in  it  was  to  be  found  the  way 
to  continued  national  unity.  Essentially  the  same  con- 
ditions obtain  in  the  island  colonies  of  the  French  West 
Indies,  and  it  is  significant  that  .the  black  people  and 
gens  de  couleur  of  Martinique  and  Guadeloupe  are  much 
more  self-respecting  and  have  made  greater  progress  than 
have  the  negroes  and  half-breeds  resident  in  the  other 
islands  of  the  Antilles. 

In  direct  contrast  with  these  conditions  are  those  that 
prevail  in  the  United  States.  Except  for  clandestine  and 
illicit  intercourse  on  part  of  male  whites  with  negro 
females  in  the  South,  and  more  open  unions,  occasionally, 
of  the  same  kind  in  the  North,  in  city  slums,  the  two 
races  have,  in  the  United  States,  been  kept  distinctly 
apart,  both  sexually  and  socially.  Despite  this  social 
handicap,  which  extends  with  almost  equal  effectiveness 
to  political  activity,  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  the 
negro  is  thoroughly  loyal  to  his  American  nationality; 
in  fact,  knows  no  other.  On  the  battlefields  of  France  the 
negroes  fought  with  so  much  devotion  as  to  inspire  a 
Southern-born  press  correspondent,  despite  his  prejudices, 
to  write  that  after  the  war  "n-i-g-g-e-r  will  merely  be 
another  way  of  spelling  the  word  American."  2  It  has 
even  been  noted  that  American-negro  missionaries  in 
Africa  are  regarded  by  their  race  fellows  as  Americans, 
as  aliens  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  native  population. 

""Brazil  and  the  Negro,"  Outlook,  1914,  Vol.  106,  pp.  409-411. 
'Irvin    S.    Cobb,    "Young    Black    Joes,"    Saturday   Evening   Post, 
p.  77.    Philadelphia,  Aug.  24,  1918. 


12  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Thus,  whether  permitted,  and  encouraged  even,  to  inter- 
marry, or  disallowed  all  social  contact,  it  would  seem  that 
the  two  races  of  man  farthest  apart  in  colour  of  skin  can, 
nevertheless,  entertain  a  consciousness  of  like  nationality 
where  numbers  of  each  group  exist  together. 

In  addition  to  the  white-negro  cross,  there  occurs  also 
in  Brazil  a  population  group  that  has  resulted  from  inter- 
marriage of  the  Portuguese  and  the  Indian  aborigines,  the 
"Paulistas"  of  Sao  Paulo.  These  Paulistas  have  long 
enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  vigorous  and 
enterprising  element  of  the  communities  in  which  they 
live.  In  Mexico,  similarly,  unions  of  the  Spanish  invad- 
ers with  the  aborigines  have  in  the  course  of  several  cen- 
turies brought  about  the  development  of  the  typical  mestizo 
population,  sometimes  spoken  of  deliberately  as  "the 
Mexicans."  It  is  argued,  in  fact,  that  the  mestizo  type 
is  established  as  a  stable  and  distinct  stock  which  would 
not  revert  or  disappear  with  the  infusion  of  fresh  Euro- 
pean blood.  The  population  of  Mexico  includes  also  a 
pure  Spanish-Caucasian  strain,  a  considerable  element  of 
negroes,  and  a  large  percentage  of  pure  Indian  stock. 
Further,  the  white  and  the  negro  and  the  negro  and  the 
Indian  have  intermarried  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is 
probable  that  many  mestizos  are  really  descendants  of  all 
three  races.  Despite  this  great  intermixture,  and  despite 
the  warring  factions  that  have  kept  Mexico  in  the  throes 
of  revolutionary  war  for  a  number  of  years,  recently,  it 
can  not  be  denied  that  this  racially  heterogeneous  popula- 
tion is  possessed  of  a  distinctly  nationalistic  spirit.  Hence 
any  attempt  by  a  foreign  nation  to  force  a  settlement  of 
the    domestic    difficulties    of    Mexico,    as,    for    example, 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        13 

American  intervention,  would  result  in  uniting  all  the 
Mexican  factions  to  resist  the  alien  intrusion,  however 
benevolent  its  intention. 

The  French-Canadian  voyageurs  are  to  a  notable  extent 
the  product  of  unions  between  French  whites  and  Algon- 
quin Indians,  and  whatever  religious  and  political  differ- 
ences exist  between  this  element  and  the  British-descended 
peoples  of  Canada  they  are  not  such  as  involve  the  question 
of  loyalty  to  their  common  Canadian  nationality. 

Finally,  perhaps  the  most  striking,  if  not  the  most  sig- 
nificant, transgression  of  racial  lines  by  nationality  is 
presented  by  the  Jews.  Than  this  people  there  are  none 
that  so  characteristically  preserve  the  mark  of  nationality 
(if  not  anthropologically  at  least  by  facial  expression1) 
in  the  individual.  Hence  it  is  of  great  interest  to  note 
that  the  Jews,  though  mainly  a  white  people,  have  a 
colour-fringe — black,  brown,  and  yellow.  "There  are  the 
Beni-Israel  of  India,  the  Falashas  of  Abyssinia,  the  dis- 
appearing Chinese  colony  of  Kai-Fung-Foo,  the  Judeos  of 
Loango,  the  black  Jews  of  Cochin,  the  negro  Jews  of 
Fernando  Po,  Jamaica,  and  Surinam."  2 

But  colour  of  skin  is  not  the  only,  and  perhaps  not 
the  best,  criterion  of  race.  With  reference  to  the  white 
peoples  of  Europe  at  least,  ethnologists  have  fixed  on 
head  form  as  the  most  permanent  and  distinct  and  at  the 
same  time  characteristic  racial  difference.  Using  this  as 
a  basis,  and  associating  with  it  other  physical  traits,  three 
separate  racial  types  may  be  identified  in  European  popu- 

1  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  Article  on  Types,  New  York,  1905. 
■I.  Zangwill,   in   "Inter-Racial  Problems,"  p.  276,  G.  Spiller,  ed., 
London  and  Boston,  1911. 


14  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

lations.  The  Mediterranean  race  has  long  heads,  short 
stature,  and  dark  skin  colour.  The  Alpine  race  has  round 
heads,  stocky  stature,  and  is  intermediate  in  pigmentation 
between  brunette  and  blonde.  The  Nordic  race  is  long- 
headed, tall,  and  fair. 

It  is  immediately  evident  that  there  is  no  correspon- 
dence between  the  distribution  of  these  three  racial  types 
and  the  various  developments  of  nationality  in  Europe. 
Lack  of  coincidence  between  nationality  and  unit  racial 
character  might,  perhaps,  be  expected,  but  the  fact  that 
practically  every  one  of  the  nationalities  of  Europe  pre- 
sents a  different  combination  of  racial  make-up  is  quite 
significant  as  an  indication  that  division  between  long 
heads  and  broad  heads  is  not  the  basis  of  national  con- 
ciousness  in  Europe. 

Great  Britain  has  an  underlying  stratum  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean race,  has  absorbed  some  Alpine  stock  (lacking  in 
Ireland),  but  the  population  today  is  predominantly 
Nordic.  In  France,  also,  all  three  races  are  represented, 
but  with  the  difference  that  their  distribution  is  distinctly 
regional  and  topographic.  In  the  south  of  France  the 
Mediterranean  race  predominates;  the  highland  regions, 
that  extend  from  the  southeast  toward  the  northwest  across 
central  France,  are  occupied  by  Alpine  people;  while  the 
lowland  plain  of  the  north  and  the  valley  passages  through 
the  hills  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Nordic  race. 

Italy  has  Alpine  stock  in  her  northern  territory, 
Mediterranean  at  the  southern  end  of  the  peninsula ;  the 
two  blending  and  mixing  in  the  central  sections. 
The  Dutch  are  preponderatingly  Nordic;  the  Belgians 
are   sharply   divided   into  Flemish-Nordics   and   Alpine- 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        15 

Walloons.  The  Spanish  and  Portuguese  are  racially  the 
most  homogeneous  of  the  European  nationalities  consist- 
ing altogether  of  Mediterranean  stock;  though  Austria, 
Hungary,  and  European  Russia  (excluding  Finland)  are 
perhaps  as  uniformly  peopled  by  the  Alpine  race. 

Similarly  the  headquarters  of  the  Nordic  race  is  found 
in  Scandinavia;  that  is,  in  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Den- 
mark. The  northwest  of  Germany  is  Nordic,  while  the 
southern  uplands  have  a  typically  Alpine  population. 
The  ancient  Greeks  were  long-headed  Mediterraneans; 
later  invasion  of  Alpine  peoples  has  made  them  more 
round-headed  and  has  developed  an  apparently  homo- 
geneous mixture  of  the  two  races  as  represented  by  the 
modern  Greeks.  Of  the  other  Balkan  peoples  the  Bul- 
garians and  Rumanians  are  least  round-headed,  and  both 
alternatives,  that  their  long-headedness  is  due  to  an  under- 
lying remnant  of  the  Nordic  race  and  that  it  is  due  to  a 
basic  stratum  of  the  Mediterranean  race,  have  been  urged. 

Although  the  above  summary  is  very  incomplete  it 
nevertheless  appears  that  where  nationality  is  most  diverse 
race  may  be  quite  uniform;  again  that  nationality  and 
race  may  coincide,  but  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  clear 
case  where  diversity  of  race  has  been  prejudicial  to  the 
evolution  of  national  solidarity. 

There  are,  then,  various  exceptions  to  the  general  rule 
of  racial  unity  in  the  constitution  of  nations;  and  they 
are  not  that  kind  of  exception  which  proves  a  rule.  Their 
occurrence,  on  the  contrary,  demonstrates  that  nationality 
is  not  based  essentially  on  race,  that,  in  fact,  nationality 
may  develop  from  an  almost  indiscriminate  mixture  of 
races,  as  in  Mexico,  as  in  Brazil.     Even  if  racial  homo- 


16  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

geneity  and  nationality  were  universal,  race  could  not 
very  well  be  made  the  basis  for  distinguishing  between 
nations,  because  the  majority  of  all  nationalities  would 
need  to  be  included  under  only  two  of  the  five  primary 
racial  divisions  as  based  on  colour  of  the  skin. 

Because  of  these  facts,  appeal  has  been  made,  sec- 
ondarily, to  language.  A  common  root  language  was  at 
one  time  held  to  be  conclusively  indicative  of  the  racial 
affinity  of  given  peoples,  the  separate  tongues  serving  to 
identify  the  individual  groups  or  nationalities  derived 
from  the  original  race.  While  this  idea  no  longer  obtains 
it  is  still  true  that,  objectively,  language  affords  the  most 
ready  expedient  for  defining  nations.  It  may  be  ques- 
tioned, however,  whether  on  subjective  grounds  such  dis- 
tinctions are  adhered  to.  If  peoples  were  now  all  free  to 
group  themselves  anew,  nationally,  on  the  self-determina- 
tion principle,  there  would  be  notable  departures  from  the 
confines  of  identity  of  language. 

An  immediate  problem  in  the  determination  of  nations 
is  presented  by  the  Balkan  groups.  It  is  no  doubt  true, 
as  Dominian  x  argues  in  a  recent  volume,  that  the  solution 
of  the  Balkan  difficulty,  from  the  objective  point  of  view 
of  an  international  commission,  would  be  to  group  these 
peoples  on  linguistic  lines.  Thus  he  says :  "Whatever  be 
the  name  applied  to  Croats,  Dalmatians,  Slavonians, 
Bosnians,  or  Serbs,  all  speak  the  Serbian  language.  All 
have  striven  for  centuries  to  promote  their  individuality 
as  a  nation.  To  help  them  realize  themselves  as  a  politi- 
cal unit  merely  implies  furthering  the  process  begun  by 

1  Leon  Dominian,  "The  Frontiers  of  Language  and  Nationality 
in  Europe,"  p.  191,  New  York,  1917. 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        17 

nature."  Dominian  has  made  a  careful  study  of  the 
Balkan  peoples,  and,  in  this  case,  bringing  about  a  coin- 
cidence of  the  national  and  linguistic  boundaries  may  be 
an  eminently  correct  elucidation.  Yet  who,  on  the  other 
hand,  would  deny  that  the  Swiss  are  a  nation,  with  tra- 
ditionally strong  national  feeling,  despite  the  fact  that 
69  per  cent  of  the  population  of  Switzerland  speaks 
German,  21.1  per  cent  French  and  8  per  cent  Italian; 
and  the  fact  that  these  different  language  units  are  dis- 
tinctly separated  territorially;  the  French  occupying  the 
west,  the  Italians  the  southeast,  while  the  Germans  extend 
across  the  country  from  the  south  to  the  north,  and  fill  all 
its  northeast  portion.  Even  Dominian  is  obliged  to  con- 
fess that  (p.  54,  op.  cit.  ante)  "Diversity  of  language 
never  impaired  Switzerland's  existence  as  a  sovereign 
nation." 

During  the  early  part  of  the  World  War  a  coined  word, 
Hiddekk  (or  H.I.D.D.E.K.K.)  made  up  of  initial  abbre- 
viations, was  current  in  Germany  and  was  there  inter- 
preted: "Hauptsache  ist  dass  die  Englander  Keile 
kriegen."  However,  the  German-speaking  but  pro-Ally 
Swiss  neighbours  of  the  Germans  construed  the  same 
word  jeeringly  to  signify:  "Hauptsache  ist  dass  Deutsch- 
land  englishe  Keile  kriegt."  x 

The  case  of  Belgium  is  similar.  The  Flemings  living 
in  the  north  of  the  country  speak  a  language  that  is  essen- 
tially Dutch,. and  are  territorially  separated  by  a  clearly 
defined  east  and  west  line  from  the  Walloons  of  the  south, 
who  speak  the  French  tongue.     This  bilingualism  per- 

1 G.  F.  Nicolai,  "The  Biology  of  War,"  p.  320,  foot-note,  New  York, 
1918. 


18  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

sisted  throughout  all  the  time  of  the  Roman  occupation 
of  Belgium  and  has  continued  ever  since.  When,  accord- 
ing to  the  treaty  of  Vienna,  Belgium  and  Holland  together 
were  constituted  the  single  state  of  the  Netherlands,  and 
the  dominant  Dutch  attempted  to  impose  their  language 
on  all  the  Belgians,  the  Walloons  were  loud  in  their  resent- 
ment. As  a  result,  in  1830,  the  Belgians,  Flemings  and 
Walloons  alike,  declared  in  favour  of  independence,  and 
were  successful  in  resisting  the  forces  that  the  Dutch  sent 
against  them.  Moreover,  despite  the  fact  that  a  keen 
struggle  for  lingual  predominance  was  being  waged  in 
every  province  of  Belgium,  in  the  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  World  War,  each  faction  striving  continually 
to  eliminate  the  study  of  the  rival  tongue  in  the  primary 
schools,  it  can  not  be  doubted  that  the  Belgians  acted  as  a 
united  nation  in  resisting  the  German  violation  of  their 
territory  in  1914.  Between  the  Flemings  and  the  Ger- 
mans there  was  easy  intercommunication  on  the  east  fron- 
tier, yet  even  before  the  invasion  it  was  a  common  saying 
among  the  Flemish  peasants,  when  they  had  licked  a 
platter  clean :  "At  least  there  will  be  nothing  left  for  the 
Prussians." 

Belgium  is  a  nation,  despite  the  linguistic  differences  of 
its  population,  and,  although  these  differences  can  hardly 
be  a  factor  operating  for  Belgian  national  coherence,  it 
is  unlikely  that  a  proposal  to  join  the  Flemings  with  the 
Dutch,  or  to  annex  the  area  and  people  of  Walloon  speech 
to  France,  would  meet  with  favour.  Like  the  inhabitants 
of  the  neighbouring  Luxemburg,  who,  free  from  the  heavy 
taxation  that  burdened  the  populations  of  their  stronger 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        19 

neighbours,  sang  "Mir  welle  bleiwe  wat  mer  sin"  (We 
wish  to  remain  what  we  are)  so  also  would  the  Belgians 
oppose  any  division-and-annexation  settlement  of  their 
linguistic  difficulty. 

Canada  may  be  cited  as  another  example  of  a  distinctly 
bilingual  nation.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  the  English 
organization  of  Canada,  in  1791,  the  purely  French- 
speaking  region  of  Quebec,  or  Lower  Canada,  was  sepa- 
rated from  the  British  region  of  Ontario,  or  Upper 
Canada;  and  both  districts  were  permitted  self-govern- 
ment; no  effort  was  made  to  oust  the  French  language  or 
French  institutions  in  Lower  Canada.  In  1867  a  united 
Dominion  of  Canada  was  erected  from  the  separate  states, 
and  this  has  persisted,  with  a  strong  national  feeling, 
though  the  French  language  prevails  as  much  as  it  ever 
did  in  the  down-river  provinces. 

It  follows  that  a  spirit  of  national  independence  is  not 
necessarily  dependent  upon  the  maintenance  or  establish- 
ment of  a  national  language.  Conversely  it  is  shown  by 
the  history  of  Poland  that  the  forcible  suppression  of  a 
language  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  nationality  is  un- 
likely to  accomplish  such  an  end.  A  Polish  child  could 
not  be  prevented  from  becoming  a  Polish  patriot  by  being 
made  to  learn  German  or  Russian  instead  of  its  mother 
tongue.  Nor  was  this  preservation  of  intense  national 
feeling  among  the  Poles  to  be  regarded  as  due  only  to  the 
attempt  to  suppress  their  Polish  speech.  The  case  of  the 
Jews  is  pertinent  in  this  connection.  The  persistence  of 
markedly  distinctive  national  traits  in  this  people  is  one 
of  the  extraordinary  facts  of  history.     Yet  the  modern 


20  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Jews  have  no  national  language;  their  Hebrew  is  a  reli- 
gious language,  the  possession  of  learned  men.  The  mod- 
ern Jew,  scattered  over  all  the  territories  of  the  earth, 
speaks  a  patois  of  German  or  Spanish,  or  else  makes  the 
language  of  his  neighbours  his  own,  and  this  latter  so 
effectively  as  to  have  won  him  literary  distinction  in  more 
than  one  language. 

Only  the  fact  of  the  stronger  homesteading  instinct  of 
the  English  colonists  led  to  the  dominance  of  English  as 
the  language  of  the  United  States.  Otherwise  Spanish 
or  French  might  have  become  established  in  the  West  and 
Southwest.  Moreover,  it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  to 
Americans,  until  the  development  of  the  hatred  of  all 
things  German  due  to  the  war,  that  communities  speaking 
languages  other  than  English  existed  in  their  midst, 
except,  perhaps,  as  the  linguistic  isolation  of  those  groups 
was  made  the  basis  of  their  political  exploitation  by  party 
bosses. 

The  examples  so  far  cited  illustrate  national  indifference 
to  or  independence  of  language.  To  be  contrasted  with 
them  are  the  groups  of  strongly  coherent  peoples  whose 
self-realization  and  consolidation  is  ascribed  primarily  to 
unity  of  language.  The  current  conception,  that  national 
distinctiveness  is  based  on  linguistic  difference,  is  founded 
on  the  existence  of  these  unit-language  groups.  The  Ger- 
mans, British,  French,  and  Spanish  in  the  West,  Japanese 
and  Chinese  in  the  East  are  all  nationalities  that  would 
be  so  characterized.  But  even  in  these  type  examples  of 
the  language  nation  there  is  a  variance  of  tongue.  Thus 
in  Germany,  going  from  north  to  south,  Low  German, 
Middle  German,  and  High  German  are  spoken,  and  it  is 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        21 

said  that  "the  Germans  differ  among  themselves,  as  re- 
gards language,  more  than  the  great  Slavic  races."  * 

In  Great  Britain  Celtic  speech  still  persists  in  the  high- 
lands of  Scotland,  in  the  mountains  of  Wales,  and  in 
western  Ireland.  But  the  while  Scotland  and  Wales  were 
perfectly  loyal  there  was  disaffection  and  separatist  propa- 
ganda, open  revolution  indeed,  in  Ireland ;  not  on  account 
of  language  difficulties  but  on  account  of  religious,  po- 
litical, economic  and  land  questions. 

In  France  the  dialectal  variation  of  the  langue  d'o'il 
prevails  in  the  north,  while  the  langue  d'oc  is  found  in  the 
south.  The  Castilians  of  Spain  can  not  understand  the 
Catalans  as  well  as  they  can  the  Portuguese ;  and  the  popu- 
lation of  Spain  includes  one  million  Basques  who  speak 
a  language  wholly  alien  to  any  other  tongue  in  all  Europe. 
Nevertheless  the  Spaniards  are,  in  other  characteristics, 
a  very  uniform  people. 

In  the  East,  the  Empire  of  Japan  and  the  new  Chinese 
Republic  are  generally  thought  of  as  comprising  peoples 
completely  homogeneous  as  to  language.  Actually  there 
are  practically  three  languages  in  Japan — the  ordinary, 
the  polite,  and  the  written — which  differ  in  a  very  con- 
siderable degree  from  one  another.  The  ideographic 
writing  of  the  Chinese,  consisting  of  some  ten  thousand 
different  signs,  is  of  uniform  significance  throughout  the 
country,  but  the  sounds  for  these  characters  vary  greatly 
in  the  different  dialects  that  are  used;  though  the  confu- 
sion this  entails  is  mitigated  somewhat  by  the  use  of  an 
official  dialect  among  the  educated  classes. 

*D.  Folkmar,  "Dictionary  of  Races  or  Peoples,"  p.  66,  Senate 
Document  662,  61st  Congress,  third  session,  United  States. 


22  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Religion  has  never  acquired  the  vogue  accorded  to 
language  as  a  determinant  of  nationality  because  the  ex- 
ceptions to  religious  unity  in  nations  are  more  numerous 
than  the  agreements,  and  because  religion  has,  perhaps, 
more  often  been  effective  in  bringing  about  national  dis- 
integration than  in  promoting  national  consolidation. 
That  religion  is  the  immediately  evident  basis  of  the  per- 
petuation of  some  nationalities,  the  particular  example 
being  the  Jews,  confirms  rather  a  dictum  of  a  diversity  in 
the  elements  bringing  about  national  coherence  than  it 
does  any  postulate  that  nations  generally  are  marked  out 
solely  by  unity  of  religious  belief.  Historically,  religious 
intolerance  has  commonly  set  off  group  from  group  in 
otherwise  like-minded  communities.  Even  so  recent  a 
development  as  the  colonial  settlement  of  the  New  Eng- 
land section  of  the  United  States  was  brought  about  in 
part  by  the  urgent  desire  of  certain  groups  to  practise 
their  own  peculiar  religious  observances  without  inter- 
ference by,  and  to  the  exclusion  of,  peoples  of  different 
faiths.  Yet  this  zealotry  did  not  endure  sufficiently  to 
prevent  the  eventual  merging  of  the,  originally,  intolerant 
groups  into  a  larger  commonwealth  and  into  the  present 
nation.  Indeed  it  has  become  a  recognized  principle  that 
a  greater  degree  of  national  unity  can  be  attained  when 
complete  religious  tolerance  prevails  than  under  the 
system  of  a  national  religion. 

The  only  restrictive  exception  that  needs  to  be  made  to 
a  rule  of  the  compatability  of  religious  tolerance  with 
national  coherence,  is  that  religious  practices  patently 
inimical  to  the  moral  or  economic  welfare  of  the  nation 
as  a  whole,  or  individuals  in  it,  need  to  be  suppressed. 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        23 

This  applies  only  to  extreme  cases,  as,  for  example,  the 
tenet  of  polygamy  that  was  part  of  the  Mormon  faith. 
The  Irish  have  long  struggled  for  national  self-realization ; 
meanwhile  are  divided  into  two,  bitterly  opposed,  camps 
of  religionists,  and  this  condition  of  religious  difference 
is  the  chief  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  attainment  by 
the  Irish  of  the  desired  goal  of  an  independent,  all- 
Ireland,  nationalistic  union. 

Contrariwise,  religion  may  be  equally  potent  with  race 
or  language  in  the  establishment  and  perpetuation  of 
nationality.  All  three  are  human  attributes  or  acqui- 
sitions of  the  same  order,  in  the  sense  that  they  mark  out 
likenesses  and  unlikenesses  in  population  groups ;  and  one 
or  the  other  may  be  the  more  significant  in  the  different 
national  groups.  Thus,  in  addition  to  the  Jews  already 
cited,  the  Japanese  owe  their  national  solidarity  more  to 
a  religious  unity  than  to  race  or  language.  Shinto  or 
Shintoism  (God's  way)  in  Japan  is  more  than  a  cult;  it  is 
an  expression  of  the  complete  system  of  national  life. 
The  underlying  concept  of  Shintoism  is  that  the  whole 
people  are  bound  up  into  one  vast  family,  linked  through 
ancestor  worship  with  the  spirit  world  and  so  harmonized 
with  the  order  of  nature.  As  the  emperor  is  the  chief 
representative  of  the  spirits  on  earth,  the  direct  descendant 
of  the  Sun  Goddess,  his  will  must  be  obeyed;  and  this 
makes  the  religious  and  family  system  the  political  system 
as  well. 

As  it  has  been  argued  in  earlier  paragraphs,  systems  of 
government  either  result  from  the  imposition  of  some  kind 
of  organization  on  a  people  or  peoples  by  force,  bringing 
about  a  specious  coherence  that  it  is  desired  should  express 


24  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

nationality ;  or  are  the  outcome,  and  not  the  creating  factor, 
of  a  nationality  that  exists,  and  in  this,  as  in  other  ways, 
is  made  manifest.  Broadly  considered,  the  human  attri- 
butes and  acquisitions  of  race,  language,  and  religion  make 
tangible  the  existence  of  nationality;  systems  of  govern- 
ment set  off  one  state  from  another. 

Before  the  recent  revolution  there  were  bound  up  to- 
gether in  the  Russian  Empire  a  vast  variety  of  peoples; 
different  races,  groups  using  different  languages  and 
having  different  religions,  were  all,  in  the  eyes  of  the  state, 
Russians.  Primarily,  indeed,  the  governmental  system 
was  devised  to  promote  and  was  actively  engaged  in  the 
attempt  to  bring  these  varied  nationalities  into  the  accep- 
tance of  a  single,  Russian,  national  consciousness.  With 
this  end  in  view  languages  were  suppressed  by  force,  as 
for  example  Polish  and  Finnish;  popular  education  was 
neglected;  military  service  was  made  universal  and  com- 
pulsory and  involved  probably  the  intermingling  of  indi- 
viduals from  different  districts  and  their  transfer  from 
place  to  place  in  order  to  foster  the  development  of  an 
all-Russian  outlook.  A  state  religion  was  also  established, 
the  Grseco-Russian  Church,  which  included  much  of  the 
Russian  population  in  its  membership.  While  other  reli- 
gions, except  the  Judaic,  might  be  freely  professed  in 
Russia,  the  toleration  was  more  theoretical  than  practical 
under  the  autocratic  regime.  Since  the  revolution  it  is 
evident,  as  is  indicated  by  the  complete  disintegration  of 
the  former  state,  that  the  attempt  to  develop  a  single, 
Russian  nationality  from  the  diverse  original  elements  of 
population  bound  together  in  the  Russian  state  by  the 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        25 

governmental    measures    enumerated,    was    almost    com- 
pletely ineffective. 

Russia  illustrates  an  attempt  to  develop  united  nation- 
ality  by   despotic   power.      In  Austria-Hungary   several 
nationalities  clashed  for  supremacy  within  the  confines 
of  a  state.     In  this  state  the  stronger  elements  had  been 
making  some  efforts  to  effect  a  compromise  that  would 
permit  of  the   dissolution  of  their  several  particularist 
features  into  a  confluent  nationality,  the  while  the  lesser 
elements  were  constantly  seeking  to  escape  from  under  the 
existing  governmental  yoke  altogether.     India  differs  both 
from  Russia  and  Austria-Hungary  in  that  it  presents  the 
spectacle  of  many  diverse  peoples  united  under  the  control 
of  a  benevolent  arbiter,  endeavouring  by  administration 
to  bring  about  a  condition  of  national  unity.    An  English 
writer,  Ramsay  Muir,1  describes  India  as  "more  deeply 
divided  in  race,  language,  and  religion  than  any  other 
region  in  the  world.     Nowhere  is  there  such  a  medley  of 
peoples  of  every  grade  of  development.     The  experience 
of   the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire,    whose   confusion   of 
races  is  simplicity  itself  in  comparison  with  the  chaos  of 
India,  affords  a  significant  demonstration  of  the  fact  that 
parliamentary  institutions,  if  they  are  established  among 
deeply   divided   peoples,   must    almost   inevitably  be   ex- 
ploited for  the  purpose  of  racial  ascendancy  by  the  most 
vigorous  or  the  best-organized  elements  among  the  people ; 
and  a  very  ugly  tyranny  is  apt  to  result,  as  it  has  resulted 
in   Austria-Hungary."      In   other   words,    the   impartial 
trusteeship  of  Britain  (involving,  among  other  measures 

^'The    Expansion    of    Europe,"    p.    134,    et   seq.,    second    edition, 
Boston,  1917. 


26  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

designed  to  bring  about  greater  cohesion  in  India,  the 
introduction  of  the  English  language  in  a  system  of  popu- 
lar education)  has  not  sufficed  to  bring  about  enough  of  a 
sense  of  common  nationality  among  the  Indians,  but  that 
if  the  pressure  of  British  dominance,  however  well  inten- 
tioned  it  is,  were  removed,  the  Indian  Empire  would  tend 
to  disintegrate  in  the  same  fashion  that  Russia  and 
Austria-Hungary  have.  It  is  true  that  other  British 
authorities  are  more  optimistic  of  the  outcome;  thus 
Arnold  J.  Toynbee  x  writes  that  the  Indian  Empire  is  no 
longer  a  passive  conglomeration  of  population ;  that  under 
the  segis  of  British  rule  the  three  hundred  millions  of 
Indian  people  are  being  liberated,  successively,  from  chaos 
and  from  particularism.  "They  have  at  last  begun  to  find 
a  common  self-consciousness  and  to  give  sure  promise 
that  India  will  take  its  place  in  the  end  as  a  great  self- 
governing  nation  of  the  new  calibre."  Toynbee  describes 
this  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  achievements  of  "strong 
government"  recorded  in  history;  the  quotation  marks 
are  his. 

However,  it  may  be  doubted  whether,  in  the  immediate 
future,  the  diverse  nationalities  of  India  will  arrive  at  any 
self-realization  of  a  single  nationality.  They  may  evince 
a  common  desire  to  dispense  with  the  British  control,  but 
it  does  not  follow  that  they  have  therefore  abandoned 
particularist  impulses.  Strong  government  in  India,  as 
elsewhere,  has  promoted  self-realization  of  nationality  on 
the  part  of  different  groups,  rather  than  the  fusion  of 
those  groups  into  one  whole.  The  most  recent  British 
proposal  made  in  the  year  1918,  for  changes  in  the  govern- 

1  "Nationality  and  the  War,"  p.  335,  London,  1915. 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        27 

ment  of  India,  the  Report  on  Indian  Constitutional 
Reforms  signed  by  Mr.  Montagu  and  Lord  Chelmsford, 
as  submitted  to  the  British  Houses  of  Parliament,  looks 
to  the  development  of  a  federated  rather  than  to  a  single 
Indian  state.  How  fully  this  outcome  is  apprehended  as 
the  logical  solution  of  the  governmental  difficulties  pre- 
sented by  India  is  indicated  by  paragraph  349  of  the 
Report :  "Our  conception  of  the  eventual  future  of  India 
is  a  sisterhood  of  states,  self-governing  in  all  matters  of 
purely  local  or  provincial  interest,  in  some  cases  corre- 
sponding to  existing  provinces,  in  others  perhaps  modified 
in  area  according  to  the  character  and  economic  interests 
of  the  people.  Over  this  congeries  of  states  would  preside 
a  central  government,  increasingly  representative  and 
responsible  to  the  people  of  all  of  them ;  dealing  with  mat- 
ters, both  internal  and  external,  of  common  interest  to  the 
whole  of  India;  acting  as  arbiter  in  inter-state  relations, 
and  representing  the  interests  of  all  India  on  equal  terms 
with  the  self-governing  units  of  the  British  Empire." 

These  examples  should  suffice  to  indicate  that  imposed, 
strong  governments  mark  out  states  but  do  not  define 
nationalities.  Nor  is  the  imposition  of  a  single  regime, 
despotic  or  benevolent,  very  effective  in  fusing  nationali- 
ties. If  benevolent,  it  may  bring  about  a  federation  of 
nationalities,  with  responsible  self-government,  provided 
that  the  interests  of  the  individual  nations  are  not  mutu- 
ally too  antagonistic. 

The  mistake  must  not,  however,  be  made  of  assuming 
that  all  strong  governments  are  imposed.  Strong  govern- 
ments, as  well  as  democratic  and  socialistic  systems,  may 
be  the  expression  of  the  will  of  the  nationalities  under 


28  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

them.  Japan  is  an  example  of  a  nationally  desired,  strong 
government;  Germany  was  another;  the  United  States 
in  war  time  developed  the  same  tendency.  In  each  of 
these  three  instances  the  command  of  the,  essentially 
single,  nationality  that  created  the  state  is  that  its  repre- 
sentatives, the  governing  officials,  shall  use  all  powers  to 
bring  about  as  great  a  unity  as  possible  in  the  conformance 
of  individual  citizens  to  the  popular  will.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  single  nationality  may  not  be  in  accord  with  the 
strong  government  which  it  has  itself  set  up;  in  that  case 
the  nation  commonly  ousts  the  government.  Thus 
Wu  Ting-Fang *  describes  the  government  of  China  as 
from  the  beginning  of  its  history  until  the  establishment 
of  the  republic,  patriarchal  in  character. 

"The  theory  was  that  the  Emperor  was  the  sire,  having 
received  his  appointment  from  Heaven,  and  his  various 
ministers  and  officers  were  the  responsible  elders  and 
stewards  of  the  various  departments,  provinces,  and  dis- 
tricts. For  many  centuries  the  occupant  of  the  Imperial 
throne  held  his  high  office  for  life,  and  at  his  demise  or 
retirement  some  able  and  virtuous  minister  was  chosen, 
either  by  the  Emperor  himself,  or  by  the  people  or  by 
their  representatives,  as  his  successor.  As  the  government 
was  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  the  Emperor  was  in 
some  instances  compelled  to  resign,  or  be  forcibly  removed, 
if  his  reign  turned  to  their  detriment.  The  history  of 
China  contains  several  instances  in  which  these  drastic 
measures  were  taken  to  remove  unjust  rulers.  In  1766 
b.c,  Ch'eng-t'ang,  founder  of  the  Shang  dynasty,  banished 
^'Inter-Racial  Problems,"  p.  126,  G.  Spiller,  ed.,  London,  1911. 


THE  DISSIMILARITY  OF  NATIONS        29 

the  wicked  ruler  Kieh,  and  in  1122  b.c.  Wu  Wang,  of 
the  Chow  dynasty,  deposed  the  cruel  King  Chou." 

After  Wu  Ting-Fang  wrote,  the  anti-dynastic  revolu- 
tion of  1911  brought  about  the  abdication  of  the  Manchus 
and  the  creation  of  a  republic.  Despite  this,  and  the 
notable  homogeneity  of  the  Chinese  people,  movements 
developed  almost  immediately  after  the  erection  of  the 
republic  having  the  autonomy  of  both  Mongolia  and  Tibet 
as  a  goal.  The  self-determination  of  the  Chinese  people 
expressed  by  their  establishment  of  a  republic  was  not 
based  on  a  consciousness  of  like-mindedness  that  included 
also  the  Mongolian  and  Tibetan  peoples,  for  these  evi- 
dently felt  the  stirrings  of  different  national  aspirations. 

In  the  longer  established  democracies,  of  which 
Switzerland,  the  United  States,  France,  Great  Britain, 
and  the  Commonwealth  states  of  the  British  Empire- 
Canada,  New  Zealand,  and  Australia  are  the  conspicuous 
examples— the  basis  of  the  state  is  the  responsible  self- 
government  of  the  people.  In  these  states  the  administra- 
tion changes,  or  the  ministry  resigns,  as  often  as  periodic 
elections  or  the  issues  of  notable  questions  of  policy  show 
the  government  to  be  out  of  accord  with  the  majority  will 
of  the  nation.  These  political  organizations  differ  from 
other  governmental  systems  that  rest  on  the  consent  of  the 
governed  in  that  the  popular,  national  demand  can  make 
itself  effective  much  more  easily,  rapidly,  and  gener- 
ally in  the  democracies.  Democratic  governments  are, 
therefore,  directly  indicative  of  the  nationalities  they 
represent. 

Nationality  may  also  find  its  expression  in  the  accep- 


30  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tance  by  a  group  of  the  leadership  of  some  individual  who, 
by  his  words  or  acts,  gives  concrete  embodiment  to  the 
common  sentiments  and  impulses  of  the  many  who  follow 
him.  History  supplies  many  examples  of  this  sort  of  self- 
determination  of  peoples,  the  French  under  the  first 
Napoleon  may  be  cited  as  a  type.  Usually  this  leader- 
ship adherence  involves,  on  the  part  of  the  followers,  first 
a  sense  of  their  unity  and  solidarity,  and,  second,  a  desire 
to  utilize  this  loyalty  within  the  group  for  purposes  of 
conquest ;  the  imposition  of  the  group's  will  and  demands 
on  other  peoples.  Nationality  realized  under  the  banner 
of  a  great  leader  is  difficultly  circumstanced  in  that  the 
group  involved  is,  on  the  demise  or  failure  of  the  leader, 
bereft  of  the  particular  bond  that  made  the  common 
nationality  tangible ;  hence  is  then  apt  to  lose  much  of  its 
potency,  or,  at  best,  its  nationality  will  be  impaired  for 
a  time.  Great  leaders  may  bring  about  the  emergence  of 
nationalities  from  the  obscurity  of  intermixture  with  other 
peoples,  yet,  lacking  the  pre-existence  of  a  group  suscep- 
tible to  their  appeal,  the  leaders  themselves  can  accomplish 
very  little  in  the  actual  creation  of  nationalities. 

The  foregoing  review  is  sufficiently  comprehensive  to 
assure  the  essential  truth  of  the  contention  that  no  one  of 
the  generally  accepted  criteria  will  serve  as  a  universal 
defining  measure  of  nationality.  As  referred  to  their 
several  attributes  of  race,  language,  and  religion,  their  or- 
ganization into  states,  systems  of  government,  emergence 
and  cohesion  under  particular  leaders,  nations  are  diverse 
units.  In  each  nation  some  particular  one  of  these  fac- 
tors, or  a  combination  of  them,  serves  as  the  special  index 
of  a  nationality  realized,  but  not  the  same  one  or  com- 


THE  DISSIMILAKITY  OF  NATIONS        31 

bination  for  all.  Moreover,  the  dominant  characteristic, 
peculiar  to  each  nation,  as  such  serves  only  to  give  expres- 
sion to  that  nationality;  and  is  not  at  bottom  the  basis 
on  and  by  which  the  nationality  exists.  It  is  also  evident 
that,  despite  the  seeming  diversity  in  the  manner  in  which 
it  finds  its  special  characteristic,  the  quality  of  nationality 
itself  is  a  common  possession  of  modern  peoples. 

A  large  proportion  of  all  mankind  is  now,  and  has  been 
for  a  long  time  past,  associated  in  groups;  of  which  the 
smaller  unit  is  the  family,  the  larger  that  of  the  nation 
made  up  of  a  great  number  of  families.  .The  family  unit 
owes  its  cohesion  to  the  ties  of  blood  relationship;  the 
larger  unit  is  not  much  less  conscious  than  the  family  of  a 
common  bond,  of  solidarity,  and  of  strict  confines  beyond 
which  it  does  not  extend.  As  in  the  case  of  different 
families,  so  also  does  each  nation  exhibit  particular  traits 
and  resemblances  which  make  its  identification  possible. 
But  these  traits  no  more  serve  for  the  elucidation  of  the 
basis  of  nationality  than  do  the  particular  resemblances 
within  a  given  relationship  account  for  the  family  insti- 
tution.1 The  adherence  within  the  family  unit,  so  obvi- 
ously based  on  consanguinity,  has  given  rise  to  many  a 
laboured  argument  to  prove  a  similar,  more  extended 
racial  kinship  to  be  fundamental  to  nationality.  By 
analogy  to  the  family  unit  and  its  potent  reason  for 
coherence,  appeal  to  racial  homogeneity  as  the  basis  of 
national  unity  is  manifestly  seductive.     Unbiassed  analy- 

aThe  development  of  nationality  as  resulting  from  race,  language, 
etc.,  is  discussed  in  considerable  detail  and  with  reference  to  many 
specific  instances  in  R.  N.  Gilchrist's  "Indian  Nationality,"  Chap.  I, 
London,  1920.  To  this  the  reader  may  turn  for  a  recent  phrasing 
of  the  conventional  argument  m  re  the  emergence  of  nationality. 


32  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

sis,  however,  shows  the  racial  theory  of  nationality  to  be 
pure  fiction  in  practically  every  instance  where  its  appli- 
cation has  been  attempted.  And  when  all  the  other  attri- 
butes and  conditions  of  nationality  have  been  enumerated 
and  described,  the  occasion  for  the  emergence  of  the  nation 
remains  still  to  be  sought.  The  conviction  that  nations, 
like  families,  are  comparable  units,  moreover,  persists. 
It  appears,  also,  that  if  some  common,  universally  appli- 
cable determinant  of  nationality,  like  consanguinity  for 
the  family,  could  be  indicated  there  would  be  available  a 
true  basis  for  comparing  nations  and  for  discovering 
the  measure  in  which  any  given  group  has  achieved 
nationality. 

It  is  herein  proposed  that  the  one  comprehensive  and 
completely  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  origin  and 
development  of  nationality  is  to  be  found  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  peoples  to  the  lands  in  which  they  live.  Environ- 
ment, in  other  words,  creates  nationality,  and  the  degree 
in  which  environment  has  made  itself  effective  on  a  given 
group  determines  the  measure  of  national  solidarity  that 
group  has  attained.  Environment  is  potent  to  create 
nationality;  its  influence  in  developing  nationality  is  per- 
sistent and  may  not  be  evaded.  The  relationship  that 
exists  between  land  and  people  is  for  nations  the  equivalent 
of  consanguinity  in  the  family  unit.  The  more  deeply  a 
nation  is  rooted  in  the  soil  the  more  evident  does  its 
national  existence  and  solidarity  become;  just  as  family 
ties  are  stronger  the  more  closely  the  parent  stock  is 
approached. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    LAND    AND    THE    PEOPLE 

In  the  preceding  discussion  of  the  diversity  of  nations 
(as  related  to  the  human  attributes  and  acquisitions  indi- 
cated by  race,  language,  and  religion,  and  as  marked  by 
differences  in  the  organization  of  states)  any  significant 
use  of  the  term  "country"  was  purposely  avoided.  If  the 
word  "nation"  were  to  be  used  consistently  to  express  the 
double  concept  of  an  organized  people  occupying  a  given 
place,  then  the  term  "state"  might  be  employed  distinc- 
tively to  indicate  the  organization  only,  and  the  term 
"country"  could  be  reserved  to  signify  the  location  and 
area  of  the  place  occupied  and  controlled  by  the  people 
of  an  organized  nationality. 

Although  the  authors  of  the  great  mass  and  variety  of 
literature  dealing  with  nationality  only  seldom  differen- 
tiate explicitly  between  these  words,  approximately  the 
connotation  suggested  above  is  usually  intended  when  one 
of  the  three  terms — nation,  state,  and  country — is  chosen 
in  preference  to  either  of  the  other  two. 

The  use  of  the  term  "country"  to  signify  the  homeland 
of  a  people  primarily  and  significantly,  will  not,  therefore, 
either  violate  or  extend  general  preconceptions  of  its 
import  in  any  material  degree.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
fundamental  importance  of  the  homeland  in  the  making 
of  nationality  is  seldom  clearly  recognized.     The  place — 

33 


34  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

not  race,  language,  religion,  or  system  of  government — 
makes  a  people  what  they  are,  develops  that  consciousness 
of  like-mindedness  on  which  any  self-determination  of 
nations  must  ultimately  rest.  The  cognizance,  intuition 
almost,  that  a  people  have  of  occupying  or  desiring  to 
occupy,  holding  for  their  own,  a  more  or  less  definite 
portion  of  the  earth's  land  surface  is  the  force  that  makes 
coherent  the  nation  comprised  of  many  individuals ;  even 
though  these  individuals,  within  the  nation,  are  subdivided 
into  other  groups  speaking  different  languages,  having 
various  racial  origins,  and  subscribing  to  different  reli- 
gions. Government,  political  entity,  the  state  concept 
develops  later;  is  a  result  of  the  action  of  this  force. 
Popular  confirmation  of  the  importance  of  place  in  the 
development  of  the  feeling  of  nationality  is  immediately 
at  hand  in  the  basic  sentiment  of  national  anthems.  Thus, 
the  first  verse  "My  Country  'tis  of  thee"  has  its  analogy  in 
Arndt's  "Was  ist  das  deutsche  Vaterland  ?" 

The  force  of  place  has  not  been  unrecognized.  His- 
torians and  economists  have  often  dandled  this  idea  of 
the  persistent  and  pervasive  influence  of  environment  in 
bringing  about  the  separation  of  peoples  into  cultural 
groups  of  like  nationality.  Like  a  child,  indeed,  the 
concept  seems  to  obtrude  itself  on  their  attention,  it  must 
be  noticed;  but,  like  the  child  again,  the  idea  is  almost 
invariably  dismissed  by  those  groups  of  scholars  with  but 
scant  consideration  of  its  significance.  To  look  in  the 
prefatory  matter  of  political,  economic,  and  historical 
literature  dealing  with  nationality  for  full  recognition  of 
the  basic  importance  of  environment  and,  after  finding 
it  to  outcrop  there,  to  note  the  almost  immediate  disap- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     35 

pearance  of  this  factor  from  any  application  in  the  thick 
strata  of  pages  that  follow,  may,  in  fact,  be  made  a  reader's 
pastime ;  it  is  so  regular  a  performance.  As  examples  of 
the  "introductory"  welcome  accorded  the  principle  of  the 
significance  of  environment  in  recent  historical  publica- 
tions there  may  be  cited  the  following  statements  by 
Beer:  *  "The  Slav  brought  up  in  a  purely  Teutonic 
environment  is  apt  to  become  a  typical  German,  and  this 
tendency  will  become  overpowering  if  both  he  and  his 
associates  are  ignorant  of  his  racial  origins."  A  little 
further  on  (p.  49)  in  the  same  volume,  Beer  quotes 
Professor  John  W.  Burgess,  "A  nation  may  be  divided 
into  two  or  more  states  on  account  of  territorial  separation 
— as,  for  example,  the  English  and  the  North  American — 
and  one  of  the  results  of  this  division  will  be  the  develop- 
ment of  new  and  distinct  national  traits." 

That  the  historical  writers,  after  having  discerned  the 
significance  of  environment,  nevertheless  veer  away  from 
the  concept  without  according  it  adequate  analysis  and 
exposition,  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  recognition  of 
environment,  as  a  dominating  factor  in  ordering  the  affairs 
of  men,  would  exclude  the  whole  background  of  the  social 
order  from  the  field  of  their  particular  studies  and  leave 
them  only  the  incidentals  and  sequence  of  human  organ- 
ization to  deal  with.  Hence  the  complaint  of  a  geographer 
in  reviewing  Ogg's  "Economic  Development  of  Modern 
Europe"  2 :  "Like  so  many  historical  works,  it  does  not 
show  a  vital  recognition  of  the  geographic  factor  in  his- 

1G.  L.  Beer,  "The  English-Speaking  Peoples,"  p.  45,  New  York, 
1917. 
2F.  A.  Ogg,  New  York,  1917. 


36  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tory.  The  first  chapter — 'Land  and  People' — would  lead 
the  reader  to  expect  that  the  author  understood  and  in- 
tended to  apply  some  of  the  principles  of  geographical 
influences.  In  the  main  discussion,  however,  these  geo- 
graphic facts,  so  carefully  stated  in  the  first  chapter,  are 
not  mentioned,  or,  at  least,  not  used  in  the  economic 
interpretation."  * 

If,  however,  the  dominance  of  the  factor  of  environ- 
ment is  neglected  in  these  and  other  treatises  of  the  eco- 
nomic, historical,  and  political  writers,  it  has  been  made 
a  main  theme  in  a  volume  on  nationality  by  an  authority 
in  biology.  In  his  book  on  "Evolution  and  the  War,"  2 
P.  Chalmers  Mitchell  states  flatly  "nurture  is  inconceiv- 
ably more  important  than  nature.  The  environment  of  the 
body  and  the  environment  of  the  mind  determine  national 
differences."  By  nurture  transcending  nature,  Mitchell 
(using  Galton's  formula)  means  that  in  the  individual  of 
any  generation  environment  prevails  over  heredity.  The 
biological  evidence  that  has  been  accumulated,  since 
Weismann  enunciated  the  general  theory,  indicates  that 
when  a  fertilized  egg,  the  joint  contribution  of  the  male 
and  female  parents,  develops,  its  growth  proceeds  by  a 
series  of  cleavages.  One  part  of  the  egg  by  continuing 
with  growth  and  subdivision  produces  the  differentiated, 
specialized  somatic  or  tissue  cells  that  perform  various 
functions  in  the  body,  but  which  lose  the  general  capacity 
to  reproduce  all  the  qualities  of  the  animal.  The  ger- 
minal part  of  the  egg  may  increase  in  size  and  subdivide ; 
but  all  the  divisions  are  alike  and  have  the  same  qualities 

*G.  B.  Roorbach,  in  Geographical  Review,  Vol.  II,  pp.  178-9,  1918. 
'Page  82  and  Chap.  V,  London,  1915. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     37 

as  the  original.  These  are  the  sexual  cells;  they  consti- 
tute the  germ-plasm  or  hereditary  material  of  the  stock. 
These  germ-plasm  cells  lie  passive  in  the  tissues,  unaf- 
fected by  the  fortunes  of  the  body  cells  of  the  individual, 
and  are  ready  to  transmit,  unchanged,  the  qualities  of  the 
parent  stock  to  the  new  generation.  Thus  the  hereditary 
material  has  a  high  degree  of  stability  and  transmits  to 
a  new  generation  the  hereditary  characters  of  the  genera- 
tion from  which  it  came,  unmodified  by  the  acquired 
characters  of  the  second  set  of  parents,  and  different  in  the 
third  generation  only  as  the  stock-plasm  of  the  two  new 
parents  is  unlike. 

From  this  it  might  seem  that  race,  after  all,  is  at  the 
basis  of  nationality.  The  actual  fact,  however,  seems  to 
be  that  nationality  creates  race,  rather  than  race  nation- 
ality. Under  even  modern  conditions  of  relatively  free 
movement  on  the  part  of  individuals  from  place  to  place 
marriage  has  remained  very  regionally  circumscribed. 
It  is  asserted  x  that  owing  to  the  intermarriage  of  cousins 
no  people  of  English  descent  are  more  distantly  related 
than  thirtieth  cousins ;  again  that  the  former  Emperor  of 
Germany  had  only  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  ancestors 
in  the  tenth  ascending  generation,  instead  of  five  hundred 
and  twelve,  the  theoretically  possible  number ;  and  finally, 
that  theoretically  each  individual  now  living  should  have 
had  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  one  hundred  and 
twenty  quadrillion  ancestors,  an  obviously  impossible 
number.  If  race  is  the  root-factor  of  nationality,  it  is 
only  so  because  regional  isolation  has  limited  ancestral 

1  Edwin  G.  Conklin,  "Heredity  and  Environment,"  p.  223,  second 
edition,  quoting  Davenport  and  Plate,  Princeton,  1918. 


38  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

numbers.  But,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  previous  sec- 
tion, quite  different  racial  stocks  may  combine,  yet  unit 
nationality  result.  The  basic  nature  of  the  germ-plasm 
of  two  races,  is,  in  other  words,  so  immobile,  and  so  per- 
manent, that  its  mixture  does  not  produce  an  individual 
enough  different  from  the  offspring  of  like  racial  parents 
to  make  impossible  the  absorption  of  the  individual  of 
mixed  blood  into  the  nationality  produced  by  the  environ- 
ment in  which  the  hybrid  is  born.  In  respect  of  the  de- 
velopment of  acquired  characters,  somatic  adaptations, 
he  is  as  well  off  as  the  native  son  of  many  generations  in 
the  same  environment. 

When  the  history  of  the  human  race,  as  a  whole'  in  its 
relation  to  world  environment,  is  rightly  understood,  this 
uniformity  and  permanence  of  the  heredity  stock  appears 
not  at  all  extraordinary.  The  science  of  physiography, 
in  its  development  during  the  past  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  has  accumulated  a  variety  of  evidence,  in  sum 
conclusive,  that  notable  changes  in  the  configuration  and 
relief  of  the  earth's  surface  require  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  years  for  their  evolution.  Formerly  it  was  thought  that 
the  upheaval  of  mountains  and  the  creation  of  great  val- 
leys and  bays  were  cataclysmic  or  catastrophic  in  nature, 
taking  place  as  great  convulsions  occupying  only  short-time 
intervals.  This  is  now  known  to  be  a  wholly  erroneous 
conception.  It  is  just  possible  that  some  of  the  great 
mountain  ranges  of  the  world  have  been  uplifted  since  the 
earliest  dawn  of  human  existence,  but  man  has  dwelt 
among  hills  and  valleys  that  have  changed  only  little 
from  the  beginning  of  historic  time  until  now.  True,  the 
physiographic  record  shows  that,  in  the  millions  of  years 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE      39 

that  have  elapsed  since  the  present  order  of  nature  has 
been  established,  mountains  have  been  uplifted  and  worn 
down  repeatedly,  but  man  has  been  on  the  stage  only  for 
the  last  part,  of  the  last  scene,  of  the  last  act,  in  these  vast 
cycles  of  change.  The  only  great  episode  that  even  pre- 
historic man  has  witnessed,  a  time  when  conditions  on 
the  earth  were  materially  different  from  what  they  are 
now,  was  the  Ice  Age,  and  that  seems  to  have  closed  some 
35,000  to  60,000  years  ago.1  The  configuration  of  coast- 
lines may  have  changed  slightly  since  then,  areas  of  land, 
in  general  of  limited  extent,  may  have  sunk  beneath  the 
waves,  with  the  result  that  straits  were  opened  and  one- 
time peninsulas  made  into  islands.  Conversely,  some  new 
land  may  have  been  added  by  uplifts.  But  the  great  con- 
tinental rivers,  throughout  all  the  history  of  man,  have 
flowed  along  essentially  the  same  courses,  only  deepening 
their  valleys  slightly  at  some  places  and  filling  them  at 
others.  The  big  fact  to  be  noted  is,  that  while  the  land- 
scape may  have  been  modified  many  times  in  detail,  its 
broader  aspects,  the  nature  of  the  relief  and  the  disposi- 
tion of  land  and  water,  and  the  possible  combinations 
these  might  present  in  a  given  region,  have  remained 
unchanged  for  countless  generations. 

As  with  the  physical  aspect  of  the  land,  so  also  with 
climate ;  the  rule  has  been  uniformity,  not  sudden  fluctua- 
tions from  cold  to  warm,  or  wet  to  dry. 

The  climatic  oscillations  that  have  occurred,  and  are 
occurring,  are  apparently  of  only  slight  range  in  long-time 
1  Baron  Gerard  de  Geer  has  demonstrated  ("A  Geochronology  of 
the  last  12,000  Years,"  International  Geological  Congress,  Stock- 
holm, 1910)  that  12,000  years  have  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of 
the  retreat  of  the  continental  ice  sheets  from  southern  Sweden. 


40  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

periods.  Even  the  Ice  Age  may  have  been  ushered  in  by 
only  a  relatively  slight  lowering  of  average  world  tem- 
peratures; one  measured,  probably,  by  not  even  tens  of 
degrees.  In  the  last  two  thousand  years  the  swing  of  a 
long-period  eycle  of  wet  and  drouth  may  have  been  respon- 
sible for  so  much  of  a  desiccation  of  Asia  as  to  have  made 
necessary  the  irruption  of  barbarian  hordes  into  the 
moister  lands  to  the  west.  Evidence  of  similar  periodic 
changes  from  wetter  to  drier  climatic  conditions  are  found 
in  the  characteristics  of  the  annual  rings  of  wood  formed 
by  the  Big  Trees  of  California  which  have  life  spans  that, 
in  individuals  among  them,  go  back  to  the  time  of  Christ. 
The  notable  thing,  however,  is  that  the  trees  were  able 
to  survive  these  changes ;  indicating  either  that  the  climatic 
oscillations  were  of  so  long  duration  as  to  enable  the 
trees  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  changes,  or  of  so  slight 
variation  as  not  to  interfere  with  their  continued  growth. 
At  the  desert  edge,  where  life  is  precariously  maintained, 
a  change  to  only  slightly  drier  conditions  might  be  the 
proverbial  last  straw  to  make  conditions  impossible,  while 
elsewhere  it  would  affect  the  growth  of  vegetation  in  no 
perceptible  degree. 

All  this  is  contrary  to  popular  thought,  which  conceives 
climate  as  highly  mutable  during  the  lifetime  of  a  single 
man,  and,  by  inference,  correspondingly  more  so  in  the 
course  of  hundreds  of  years.  It  is  surprising  to  find 
that  the  average  of  temperature  and  of  precipitation  in 
even  the  variable  West  Wind  Belts  of  the  temperate  lati- 
tudes fluctuates  by  perhaps  only  a  degree  or  an  inch  from 
one  ten-year  period  to  the  next.  Curiously  enough,  how- 
ever, there  does  seem  to  be  in  those  regions  a  slight  swing 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     41 

from  dry  and  warm  years  to  wet  and  cold  years,  complete 
in  every  thirty-five  or  forty  years,  and  this  may  be  the 
occasion  for  the  memories  of  "old-fashioned  winters"  kept 
alive  by  old  residents'  tales.  The  interesting  .thing  about 
this  cycle  is  that  it  makes  its  round  in  the  average  life  of 
a  man,  hence  is  a  matter  of  the  environment  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  not  of  the  race. 

Racial  environment  is,  therefore,  essentially  static.  The 
hereditary  stock  of  germ-plasm  transmitted  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  has,  as  Mitchell  puts  it  (p.  86,  loc.  cit. 
ante)  "grown  old  and  formal  with  regard  to  the  persistent 
features  of  its  environment,  and  if  these  are  not  present 
it  fails  to  develop  and  dies."  This  does  not  mean  that  the 
races  of  man,  as  distinguished  by  skin  colour  or  other 
persistent  heritable  characters,  do  not  differ  in  the  nature 
of  their  germ-plasm  stock.  On  the  contrary  they  do  and 
markedly.  For  while  the  race  environment  is  static  over 
a  given  region  of  the  earth's  surface  it  varies  greatly  from 
place  to  place,  and,  as  has  been  set  forth  in  preceding 
paragraphs,  the  different  races  of  mankind  have  been,  up 
until  the  recent  present,  geographically  isolated  to  a  re- 
markable degree.  And  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  heredi- 
tary potencies  of  the  germ  cells  can  be  altered  by  stimuli 
acting  on  the  parental  body.  Accordingly,  there  has  been 
opportunity  for  racial  modification  of  the  human  stock  by 
mutation,  originating  from  the  influences  of  a  particular 
environment  exerted  on  countless  generations  that  had  un- 
interruptedly dwelt  therein.  Conceivably  the  offspring  of 
the  union  of  an  Eskimo  and  a  negro  from  Central  Africa 
would  be  endowed  with  a  mixture  of  hereditary  stocks  so 
different  in  constitution  as  to  make  the  children  incapable 


42  INHERITING  THE  EAETH 

of  surviving  in  the  environment  of  either  parent ;  but  this 
would  be  one  of  the  most  extreme  cases  possible.  Other 
racial  stocks  are  known  to  be  so  sufficiently  similar  that 
the  offspring  of  mixed  marriages  is  entirely  capable  of 
existence  in  the  home  of  either  of  the  parents,  perhaps  in 
a  region  remote  from  both  ancestral  habitats.  Air,  water, 
light,  heat  (with  temperature  variations  between  only  rela- 
tively narrow  limits)  food,  and  a  land  home  place  are  the 
environmental  prerequisites  of  each  race;  and  except  for 
possible  extremes,  such  as  the  habitat  of  the  Eskimo  con- 
trasted with  that  of  the  tropical  negro,  are  available  in  so 
nearly  the  same  measure  everywhere  over  the  earth  that 
the  basic  hereditary  stock  of  man  is  like  and  static  to  a 
marked  degree.  Heredity,  coupled  with  isolation  in  a 
given  environment  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  may  by 
mutation  and  subsequent  selection  and  fixation  eventually 
result  in  permanent  racial  modifications,  differences  in 
skin  colour,  stature,  and  perhaps  even  head  form.  But 
to  argue  that,  because  isolation  in  a  certain  region  develops 
particular  acquired  capacities  and  aptitudes,  these  ac- 
quired characters  are  transmitted,  through  parallel  modi- 
fication of  the  germ-plasm,  from  one  generation  to  the 
next,  is  to  claim  for  environment  a  degree  of  potency  for 
the  modifying  of  the  stable  human  stock  that  is  not 
warranted  by  the  biological  evidence.  And,  even  if  by 
long-continued  isolation  certain  acquired  characters  were 
made  heritable,  to  assert  that  nations  have  been  differen- 
tiated by  this  means  is  to  ignore  the  recency  of  establish- 
ment of  moat  nations  and  the  racial  mixtures  of  which 
national  groups  are  composed. 

The  production  of  nationality,  then,  is  simply  the  physi- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     43 

cal  and  mental  adaptation  of  the  individual  of  each  genera- 
tion to  the  place  in  which  he  lives.  Biologically  it  is  the 
adjustment  of  the  tissue  cells  of  the  human  organism  to 
the  environment  in  which  they  are  placed,  not  the  develop- 
ment of  modifications  in  the  stable  germ-plasm.  Most  con- 
cisely put,  nationality  is  the  habits,  mental  and  physical, 
that  the  place  engenders  in  the  individual.  As  individuals, 
the  vast  majority  of  human  beings  have  for  the  dura- 
tion of  their  life  spans  been  firmly  and  continuously  fixed 
in  the  environment  of  their  birthplaces.  The  outlook  of 
the  average  man  is,  therefore,  very  narrowly  restricted. 
The  child  is  taught  to  react  to  his  environment  as  his 
parents  did  before  him.  He  belongs  to  a  certain  cultural 
group  which  was  also  that  of  his  parents.  As  he  grows 
older  he  does  as  his  neighbours  do;  he  knows  what  his 
neighbours  know,  and  he  thinks  much  along  the  same  lines 
as  their  thoughts  run.  And  it  should  be  remembered  that 
even  in  the  advanced  industrial  nations  a  large  percentage 
of  the  population  (Gt.  Britain  13  per  cent,  IT.  S.  33  per 
cent,  France  41  per  cent,  Belgium  22  per  cent,  Germany 
35  per  cent,  Austria  61  per  cent,  Hungary  70  per  cent, 
Italy  60  per  cent)  continues  in  agricultural  pursuits  and 
thus  remains  intimately  associated  with  the  land.  Even 
in  great  cities,  what  may  be  termed  the  inertia  of  home, 
or  the  familiarity  of  the  rut,  tends  to  hold  the  individual 
in  the  place  where  he  has  been  born  and  brought  up. 
After  reaching  maturity  in  a  certain  environment  he  comes 
to  know  both  the  opportunities  and  limitations  of  his  sur- 
roundings ;  hence  is  extremely  averse  to  making  a  change. 
A  hazard  of  new  fortunes  in  a  strange  locality  involves, 
for  the  vast  majority,  too  great  a  readjustment  in  the  order 


44  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

of  their  lives  to  be  undertaken  except  as  compelled  by 
extremely  adverse  conditions  at  home  or  induced  by  very- 
great  enticement  from  abroad. 

If  the  effectiveness  of  the  environment  in  moulding  the 
life  and  outlook  of  the  individual  be  granted,  the  question 
immediately  arises  by  what  process  or  processes  does  the 
individual  become  conscious  of  the  extent  of  the  com- 
munity to  which  he  belongs ;  that  is,  of  the  confines  of  his 
nationality?  Or,  otherwise  put,  how  are  the  nationalistic 
influences  of  one  environment  delimited  and  marked  off 
from  the  next? 

Though  the  scope  of  the  average  individual's  activities 
is  circumscribed,  he  nevertheless  comes  in  contact  with  a 
number  of  other  human  beings  that  belong  to  his  group, 
have  the  same  home  place,  and  are,  accordingly,  affected 
in  the  same  way  as  he  is  by  environment.  These  individu- 
als in  turn  have  each  their  circles  of  contacts,  so  that,  pro- 
vided there  is  no  lack  of  continuity  in  the  occupation  of 
the  environment  by  a  human  population  or  check  by  a 
notable  geographic  barrier,  such  as  the  sea  or  a  nearly 
impassable  mountain  range,  there  can  be  an  indefinite  ex- 
pansion of  a  like-minded  community. 

If  the  environment  is  monotonously  uniform  over  a 
wide  area,  this  sameness  may  suffice  to  establish  the  bond 
of  nationality.  If  the  environment  varies  only  by  insen- 
sible gradations  from  one  set  of  conditions  to  another, 
the  occupants  of  the  possible  extremes  in  its  manifestations 
may  be  subjected  to  quite  different  influences,  yet  be 
linked  together-by  the  intervening  groups  that  come  under, 
in  inverse  ratio,  the  influence  of  each  of  the  contrasted 
border  areas.     How  far  a  merging  of  people  subject  to 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE      45 

differing  local  environments  may  go  depends  in  large 
measure  on  the  cultural  status  of  the  group  itself.  This 
in  turn  is  a  reflection  of  the  general  environment,  since 
the  sum  of  the  conditions  of  the  wider  environment  deter- 
mines the  degree  of  necessity,  opportunity,  and  protection 
afforded  the  human  population  therein  situated,  hence, 
also,  the  measure  of  advance  possible  to  the  inhabitants. 
Primitive  fisher  and  hunter  folk  do  not  achieve  nation- 
ality, because  (except  for  the  confines  of  the  village  in 
which  they  dwell)  they  have  no  sense  of  holding,  possess- 
ing,  by   occupying,   the  lands   over  which   they   roam.1 

Nor  is  this  sense  of  owned  country  much  more  strongly 
developed  among  pastoral  nomads;  these  owe  allegiance 
each  to  his  tribe  and  the  tribes  are  in  competition  with 
each  other  for  the  use  of  the  land.  Only  where  agricul- 
tural occupation  of  a  region  can  be  and  has  been  accom- 
plished is  nationality  possible.  Commercial  and  industrial 
activities  consolidate  nationality  further  because  they  pro- 
mote an  even  wider  possession  and  utilization  of  the  re- 
sources of  the  land  than  does  agriculture. 

Agricultural  and  industrial  occupation  of  lands  involves 
a  large  measure  of  co-operation  between  individual  family 
and  community  groups,  specialization  in  activities,  and 
interchange  of   products.      By   these  means  the  human 

*Paul  S.  Reinsch,  "Colonial  Administration,"  p.  59,  New  York, 
1905.  "The  causes  that  have  kept  the  negro  from  acquiring  a  higher 
social  organization  .are  closely  connected  with  the  fact  of  the  con- 
stant shifting  of  the  African  population,  which  was  not  held  in 
place  by  the  physical  conformation  of  territory  such  as  that  of 
Greece  and  Italy.  The  African  societies  were  thus  not  given  time  to 
strike  roots  and  acquire  a  national  tradition  and  history — the  mem- 
ory of  races — which  is  one  of  the  chief  ingredients  of  civilization." 


46  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

fabric  is  knit  together  in  a  mesh  that  can  not  easily  be 
dissevered  without  doing  violence  to  the  whole.  An  injury 
to  a  part  accordingly  becomes  a  national  injury  and  is 
resented  accordingly.  Loyalty  to  immediate  neighbours 
involves,  therefore,  national  loyalty  as  well.  Often,  also, 
some  enterprise  of  sufficiently  wide  scope  to  require  the 
collective  effort  of  the  whole  group  is  undertaken  and  in 
its  accomplishment  national  cohesion  is  more  firmly  es- 
tablished ;  there  is  developed  a  will  to  co-operate. 

This  is  only  a  generalized  outline  of  the  possibilities 
open  to  the  enlargement  and  consolidation  of  local  en- 
vironmental groups  into  a  greater  national  whole.  And 
it  would  be  difficult  to  set  forth  in  detail  just  how  the 
restricted  community  environment  that  moulds  the  habit 
of  the  individual  expands  into  a  national  setting.1  In  each 
instance  the  set  of  factors  would  differ  in  some  degree. 
The  early  self-realizing  peoples,  nations  (excluding  the 
mosaics  that  were  patched  together  into  empires  by  con- 
quest) were  small.  Modern  facilities  for  the  profitable 
exchange  of  goods  from  distant  points  and  rapid  communi- 
cation of  intelligence  are  in  large  part  responsible  for  the 
possibility  of  big  nations.  At  some  juncture  either  two, 
or  a  number,  of  hitherto  isolated  communities  become  con- 
scious of  similarity,  of  an  identity  of  interest  in  occupy- 
ing a  given  domain,  and  nationalism  is  born. 

1  "Nationality  is  but  one  degree  in  regional  consciousness.  De- 
spised parochialism,  country  patriotism,  national  sentiment,  and 
pride  in  imperial  heritage  are  various  steps.  .  .  .  Geography  teaches 
that  regional  consciousness  in  all  its  degrees  is  a  function  of  man- 
kind, and  that  internationalization,  in  so  far  as  it  attempts  to 
stifle  regional  expression,  is  a  fallacy."  R.  N.  R.  Brown,  in  "The 
Principles  of  Economic  Geography,"  p.  xv,  London,  1920. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE      47 

The  case  of  modern  Italy  and  the  Papal  states  may 
be  cited.  The  inhabitants  of  the  latter  had  become  con- 
scious of  their  Italian  nationality  and  craved  a  union  with 
surrounding  Italian  areas,  of  which  they  felt  their  environ- 
ment was  a  part.  The  Pope  in  opposing  the  union  was 
thwarting  the  aspirations  of  a  nation  to  realize  its  com- 
plete possession  of  the  homeland.  The  Italia  Irredenta 
movement  had  an  exactly  similar  basis.  The  end  of 
"Kleinstaaterei"  in  Germany  was  first  brought  about  by 
trade  necessity,  the  establishment  of  the  "Zollverein"  to 
make  possible  free  interchange  of  goods  over  territory 
recognized  as  belonging  to  the  same  people  needing  to 
co-operate.  But,  as  was  the  case  with  Greece  in  an  earlier 
time,  when  Athens  and  Sparta  combined  to  face  the  Per- 
sian, Xerxes,  so  also  it  required  participation  in  a  common 
enterprise  against  France  to  bring  the  Catholics,  south 
Germans,  to  a  realization  of  their  national  unity  with  the 
Prussian  Protestants. 

As  widely  as  there  exists  a  willingness  to  co-operate, 
without  discrimination  between  individuals  or  communi- 
ties, in  the  development  of  the  resources  of  lands,  and  as 
widely  as  the  feeling  exists  among  the  inhabitants  of  these 
lands  that  they  are  co-partners  in  the  possession  of  these 
lands — so  far  does  nationality  extend.  American  nation- 
ality has  developed  on  exactly  this  basis.  When  disinte- 
gration and  the  formation  of  separate  nationalities  has 
threatened  it  has  been  because  community  of  interest  had 
failed;  the  sense  of  similarity  of  environment,  common 
possession  of  the  country  had  become  dimmed.  Canadians, 
Australians,  New  Zealanders,  and  perhaps  the  South 
Africans  are  ready  to  relinquish  a  portion  of  their  inde- 


48  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

pendent  nationality  for  a  broader  British  nationality  and 
Britain  also  stands  ready  to  accept  them.  The  near  future 
will  probably  see  many  steps  taken  to  give  expression  to 
this  larger  British  nationality  by  closer  political  and 
economic  co-operation.  Even  South  Ireland  and  Irish 
nationality  have  been  able,  finally,  to  realize  itself 
and  themselves  included  in  and  co-operating  with  this 
group. 

While  it  is  difficult  to  set  forth  concisely  the  relation 
of  established  nationalities  to  the  lands  which  are  their 
homes,  the  same  end — that  is,  of  showing  the  dependence 
of  people  on  place — can  be  much  more  readily  attained  by 
citing  the  multitudinous  instances  where  environment  has 
had  a  very  definite  influence  in  developing  national  traits. 
It  is  not  within  the  province  of  this  study  to  attempt  an 
enumeration  of  these  in  detail.  This  has  been  done  in 
great  fulness  by  Miss  E.  C.  Semple  in  her  volume  on 
"Influences  of  Geographic  Environment"  1  to  which  the 
reader  is  referred.  If,  however,  it  can  be  made  clear  that 
environment  is  competent  to  change  the  nationality,  both 
of  individuals  and  groups  the  argument  is  significantly 
fortified. 

When  an  individual  leaves  the  homeland  and  enters 
for  a  greater  or  less  length  of  time  into  a  new  environment, 
and  among  people  of  different  nationality,  several  things 
may  happen.  He  may  find  the  new  situation  repellent  for 
some  reason  or  other ;  it  may  appear  inferior  to  that  which 
he  has  left  behind.  Or  the  nationality  that  he  enters  may 
find  him,  personally,  or  his  nationality,  his  acquired  char- 
acters, unacceptable  and  unassimilable  into  their  group. 
*New  York,  1911. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     49 

In  either  of  these  instances  he  is  kept  out  of  the  true  set- 
ting of  the  new  place  and  tends  to  preserve  his  original 
traits.  This,  essentially,  has  been  the  history  of  the  Jews. 
Excluded,  or  holding  themselves  aloof,  from  the  many  na- 
tionalities among  which  their  numbers  are  dispersed,  the 
Jews  preserve  some  of  the  traits  acquired  in  their  home- 
land of  Palestine.  That  this  is  something  more  than  a 
geographic  inference  is  made  evident  from  the  statement 
of  Jacob  H.  Schiff  *  endorsing  the  Zionist  movement  be- 
cause it  will  provide  a  place  where  the  Jew  "shall  be  able 
to  go  with  the  assurance  that  he  shall  find  sympathetic 
surroundings  and  conditions  under  which  he  and  posterity 
shall  be  willing  to  live."  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that 
these  persistent  characteristics  of  the  Jew  are  the  effect  of 
the  isolation  and  continuity  of  the  Jewish  social  environ- 
ment. As  pointed  out  by  Oakesmith  2  Jewish  aptitudes 
and  characteristics  in  other  respects  are,  and  have  been, 
reflective  of  the  nature  of  their  relations  with,  and  the 
degree  in  which  the  Jews  have  been  permitted  to  come  into 
contact  with,  the  general  environment  in  which  they  are 
situated.  The  Jew  was  a  farmer  and  herdsman  in  Pales- 
tine, a  change  in  environment  during  the  Babylonian  exile 
turned  his  attention  to  commerce ;  in  Europe  he  was  first 
a  merchant  on  a  large  scale  and  then  became  a  pedlar, 
huckster,  and  small  money-lender,  a  status  in  which  he  re- 
mained for  five  hundred  years.  Modern  industrial  devel- 
opment provided  the  Jew  with  the  opportunity  to  become 
a  money-lender  on  a  large  scale ;  association  of  Christian 

1New  York  Times,  p.  8,  Sept.  12,  1918. 

2  John  Oakesmith,  "Race  and  Nationality,"  pp.  65-67,  New  York, 
1919. 


50  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

and  Jew  in  capitalistic  enterprises,  coupled  with  the  amass- 
ing of  great  wealth  by  Jews,  has  gained  for  the  Jew  access 
to  other  professions,  occupations,  and  politics.  Only  the 
social  barrier  now  remains  to  prevent  his  complete  assimi- 
lation into  particular  nationalities.  And  his  social  dis- 
ability is  owing  to  traits  acquired  in  Asia,  persistent 
until  now,  because  never  freely  subject  to  the  communal 
environment  of  other  regions. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  immigrant  finds  the  new  en- 
vironment attractive,  or  is  simply  unprejudiced  in  regard 
to  it,  and  meets  with  no  antipathies  that  debar  him  from 
entering  into  it,  he  rapidly  acquires  a  number  of  manner- 
isms peculiar  to  the  new  locality,  perhaps  quite  uncon- 
sciously, but  of  a  nature  glaringly  apparent  to  any  old 
acquaintances  he  may  chance  to  meet  when  he  returns  to 
his  former  home  on  a  visit.  A  long  enough  residence  in 
the  new  locality  weans  him  wholly  away  from  his  earlier 
home  loyalty  and  national  allegiances ;  he  becomes  a  native 
of  the  country  of  his  adoption  and  his  children  know  no 
other. 

How  far  this  adoption  of,  and  adoption  into,  a  new 
atmosphere  may  revolutionize  the  attitude  and  viewpoint 
of  the  individual  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  "Treitschke, 
the  most  Prussian  of  Prussians,  was  a  Saxon  of  Tzech 
descent ;  and  Nietzsche,  the  unconscious  prophet  of  Prus- 
sianism,  prided  himself  on  his  Polish  blood."  1  The  more 
completely  newcomers  are  cut  off  from  their  old  environ- 
ment, the  more  readily  can  they  be  naturalized.  Probably 
this  was  what  Lord  Bryce  had  in  mind  when  in  a  speech 

»G.  L.  Beer,  "The  English-Speaking  Peoples,"  p.  46,  New  York, 
19X7. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     51 

on  the  relation  between  race  and  history  he  suggested  that 
the  teaching  of  history  ought  to  be  forbidden !  1 

The  intruders  into  an  established  community  life  must 
be  acceptable  to  the  occupant  group,  else  they  will  not  be 
permitted  to  enter  into  the  native  adaptation  to  the  en- 
vironment, will  not  be  allowed  to  share  in  all  the  opportu- 
nities the  habitat  offers ;  consequently  can  not  come  fully 
under  its  influence.  Between  the  five  divisions  of  man- 
kind, as  based  on  skin  colour,  racial  antipathies  exist  that 
prevent  their  free  intermingling  everywhere.  Chinese  im- 
migrants are  excluded  from  the  United  States,  all  coloured 
peoples  from  Australia.  If  permitted  to  enter  the  com- 
munity the  immigrants  must  be  capable  of  participating 
in  the  institutions  of  the  resident  group.  If  the  first  gen- 
eration fails  in  this  respect,  immigrants  of  that  type  tend 
to  become  segregated  and  to  form  an  alien  group  within 
the  nationality.  The  Slav  peoples  coming  to  America  in 
great  numbers  in  recent  years  are  being  isolated  markedly ; 
in  a  lesser  degree  this  is  true  also  of  immigrants  from 
the  south  of  Italy.  This  tendency  to  segregation  is  the 
chief  problem  of  the  "melting  pot,"  a  phrase  descriptive 
of  a  difficulty  and  a  process  that  have  aroused  misgivings 
in  many  American  minds.  It  is  altogether  likely,  how- 
ever, that  the  "melting  pot"  will  find  its  solution  in  a 

1  "As  nearly  as  can  be  gathered  from  the  heated  discussion  now 
going  on,  De  Valera  is  an  American-born  Irishman  whose  father 
was  a  Spaniard.  This  may  sound  confusing,  but  is  explained  by 
De  Valera's  friends.  His  mother  was  Irish  and  his  father  Spanish; 
he  was  born  in  New  York  City;  his  father  died  when  he  was  about 
two  years  old,  and  his  mother  returned  to  Ireland,  taking  the  child 
with  her.  There  he  grew  up  as  an  Irishman."  Editorial  Paragraph, 
New  York  Tribune,  1920. 


52  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

more  complete  adaptation  to  the  environment  by  the 
second  and  third  generations  of  the  descendants  of  diffi- 
cultly assimilable  immigrants,  if  only  the  flood  of  new 
arrivals  from  the  old  homeland,  and  bearing  its  stamp, 
can  be  checked. 

Even  the  most  formidable  of  racial  and  linguistic  bar- 
riers to  assimilation  are  not  insuperable ;  as  is  indicated 
by  the  present  position  of  the  negro  in  American  life. 
The  negro  was  not  a  willing  or  even  a  neutral  incomer. 
He  is,  on  the  contrary,  representative  of  a  subjugated, 
deported  people;  his  case  involves  the  greatest  possible 
violation  to  natural  adaptation  that  can  be  conceived. 
He  was  from  the  lowest  groups  in  the  scale  of  human 
culture,  therefore  originally  absolutely  incapable  of  assim- 
ilation into  the  life  of  the  resident  group;  moreover  the 
slave  status  in  itself  relegated  him  to  a  complete  isolation 
from  the  normal  influences  of  the  environment.  Race 
prejudice  continues  to  exclude  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tion of  the  savage  slave's  descendants  from  participation 
in  many  of  the  opportunities  of  American  life,  and  this 
despite  the  fact  that  individuals,  at  least,  have  showed 
that  they  have  so  far  been  moulded  by  the  environment 
as  to  be  capable  of  mastering  its  conditions.  Yet  these 
great  handicaps  have  not  prevented  the  negro  from  sharing 
in  American  aspirations,  ideals,  and  institutions  to  a 
notable  extent.1 

1  President  Harding  in  his  speech  at  Birmingham,  Alabama,  de- 
livered October  26,  1921,  indicated  in  plain  language  what  should 
be  the  status,  in  the  future,  of  the  negro  as  an  American  citizen. 
He  insisted,  and  rightly,  that  the  negroes  as  well  as  the  whites 
were  entitled  to  all  the  advantages  of  American  educational,  eco- 
nomic, and  political  opportunity,  but  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE      53 

The  position  of  the  negro  serves  as  an  introduction  to 
another  factor  that  is  involved  in  these  processes  of  weld- 
ing together  groups  that  are  in  harmony  with  their  sur- 
roundings and  conscious  of  a  group  like-mindedness  and 
culture,  but  were  derived  originally  from  diverse  elements. 
That  factor  is  the  existence  within  the  region  of  a  type 
of  people  and  culture  that  the  newcomer  may  emulate. 
If  a  superior  people  and  type  of  culture  is  imposed  on  an 
inferior,  the  latter  will  be  rapidly  displaced;  partly  on 
account  of  the  hostility  to  the  invader  and  his  rule  that 
leads  to  conscious  effort  to  preserve  the  former  adapta- 
tions, partly  because  the  invading  type  and  culture,  if 
really  superior,  will  make  the  environment  yield  larger 
returns  per  unit  of  human  effort.  The  inferior  type,  in 
consequence,  will  not  be  able  to  inhabit  the  area  in  com- 
petition with  the  newcomers.  This  is  essentially  what 
happened  to  the  North  American  Indian.     Such,  appar- 

negroes  could  not  hope  for,  and  should  not  strive  for,  social  and 
marital  intercourse  between  the  two  races.  Whether  or  not  racial 
amalgamation  may  be  advisable  in  other  quarters,  it  has  no  place, 
as  between  negro  and  white,  in  American  life;  nor  is  it  needed. 
The  white  race  in  America  has  nothing  to  gain  from  social  contact 
with  the  negro,  does  not  want  it,  and  is  under  no  obligation  what- 
soever to  grant  it.  A  Greek  scholar  and  a  social  butterfly  may 
find  pleasure  and  profit  in  each  other's  company,  but  only  if  and 
when  both  parties  are  willing  they  should  be  together.  As  the 
white  race  does  not  wish  to  have  social  relations  with  black  people 
there  is  no  reason  why  such  contact  should  be  forced  upon  the 
white  race.  Men  may  be  created  free  and  with  a  right  to  equal 
opportunity,  but  no  man  need  therefore  invite  to  his  dinner  table  a 
person  whom  he  dislikes,  whether  that  person  is  of  high  or  low 
degree.  The  parties  to  mixed  marriages  must  therefore  expect  to  be 
ostracised  by  both  races,  and  their  offspring  also.  Some  are  born 
men,  others  women,  some  white,  some  black;  the  "accident"  of  birth 
is  the  will  of  the  Creator. 


54  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

ently,  also  has  been  the  history  of  the  successive  waves  of 
migration  of  Eastern  peoples  into  western  Europe.  In 
those  primitive  times  a  superior  people  possibly  meant 
only  a  more  virile  stock ;  one  accustomed  to  a  harder  en- 
vironment than  that  into  which  they  came,  and  from 
which,  accordingly,  they  were  able  to  displace  their  pre- 
decessors. Probably,  however,  there  was  a  large  measure 
of  absorption  as  well,  as  there  was  no  racial  barrier  to 
interpose.  If  the  invaders  are  not  really  superior  in 
culture  and  stock,  and  prevail  simply  by  force  of  arms, 
the  only  outcome  possible  is  long-continued  foment  while 
both  parties  suffer  modifications  in  type  due  to  their  reac- 
tion on  each  other  in  the  common  environment;  with  the 
result  that  eventually  they  merge  to  form  a  unit  group. 

But  the  most  pertinent  illustration  of  the  naturalization 
of  the  individual  is  afforded  where  the  newcomer  has 
reason  to  emulate  the  ways  of  the  earlier  residents,  and 
where  the  influx  of  aliens  is  by  individuals  and  families, 
and  not  by  wandering  hordes  or  armed  men.  The  growth 
in  population  of  the  United  States  for  a  long  period  of 
years  was  by  such  individual  and  family  units,  and  the 
pioneer  settlement  of  the  country  was  accomplished  by 
English-speaking  people.  The  relation  of  these  English 
to  the  later  comers  is,  therefore,  a  quite  interesting  case 
in  point. 

Before  the  great  increases  in  population  occurred  in  the 
various  parts  of  the  United  States,  families  of  English 
descent  had  occupied  nearly  all  of  them,  sparsely  to  be 
sure,  but  yet  as  first  comers ;  not  at  the  same  date  in  all 
parts,  but  always  ahead  of  the  rest.  These  old  settlers 
were  moulded  by  the  environment,  and  their  adaptations 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     55 

to  it  determined  the  way  of  the  communities  of  diverse 
stocks  that  were  to  develop  with  the  increase  in  numbers. 

It  is  true  that  French,  Spanish,  and  Dutch-speaking 
peoples  were  early  rivals  of  the  English  for  possession  of 
the  country.  But  the  French  were  led  to  become  traders 
and  trappers,  for  the  most  part  they  never  had  a  real  hold 
on  the  soil ;  the  Spanish,  who  were  adventurers  and  free- 
booters, had  even  less  connection  with  the  land.  Where 
either  of  these  peoples  actually  settled  in  numbers  their  in- 
fluence still  lingers,  as  in  Louisiana  and  in  the  South- 
western States.  In  these  regions  they,  not  the  English, 
constituted  the  dominant  strain  that  determined  the  way 
of  the  environmental  adaptation.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  conceded  that  the  Dutch  settlers  along  the  Hudson 
yielded  to  the  English,  primarily  because  they  realized 
that  the  institutions  of  their  English  neighbours  were 
superior  to  their  own,  hence  worthy  of  emulation. 

But  the  clearest  case  of  assimilation  due  to  an  estab- 
lished adaptation  is  that  shown  by  the  Germans  who 
came  into  the  country  in  numbers  at  a  later  period.  The 
German  immigration  reached  its  height  in  1882  when 
250,630  were  admitted;  thereafter  it  rapidly  declined. 
Between  1820  and  1910  Germany  furnished  over  five 
million  immigrants  to  the  United  States,  a  number  only 
exceeded  by  the  English-speaking  peoples,  nearly  eight 
millions  of  these  coming  in  the  same  period.  The  Ger- 
mans, moreover,  spread  themselves  very  evenly  over  the 
whole  extent  of  the  country,  preponderatingly,  however,  in 
the  Northern  states. 

While  the  height  of  the  wave  of  German  immigration 
occurred  in  1882,  many  came  in  the  years  previous  to 


56  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

that  one,  comparatively  few  since.  Most  of  the  German 
immigrants  of  the  earlier  period  were  from  the  middle 
class  of  German  population,  and,  although  Germany  had 
been  consolidated  into  an  empire  in  1871,  it  had  been  a 
country  of  many  provincial  districts  previously,  and  the 
impress  of  this  provincialism  could  not  have  been  eradi- 
cated completely  from  the  population  by  1882.  Because 
of  their  station  and  provincialism,  therefore,  the  German 
immigrants  were,  in  the  average  of  all  their  number,  es- 
sentially uncouth  as  compared  to  their  new  neighbours 
of  English  speech ;  for  these  had  for  the  most  part  enjoyed 
several  generations  of  a  broader  life  in  America,  had 
become  fitted  into  their  New  World  environment.  The 
"Dutchy"  newcomer,  on  account  of  his  unsophistication, 
was  made  the  butt  of  many  jokes;  accordingly  he  made 
haste  to  discard  as  rapidly  as  possible  those  traits  which 
revealed  his  origin.  He  found  that  the  adaptation  of  the 
established  English-speaking  people  was  superior  in  fit 
to  the  new  environment  than  the  ways  he  had  learned  at 
home,  and  was,  therefore,  entirely  willing  to  be  moulded 
into  its  form.  On  the  other  hand,  the  German  was  ac- 
corded full  and  complete  recognition  as  a  citizen,  on 
a  par  in  standing  and  opportunity  with  those  of  English 
tongue,  as  fast  as  he  became  adjusted  to  the  American 
conditions. 

Beer  argues,  indeed,  that  in  America  "there  is  a  largely 
unconscious,  but  very  real,  determination  on  the  part  of 
those  of  British  ancestry  not  to  allow  the  control  of  affairs 
to  pass  out  of  their  hands."  1    It  may  be  doubted  whether 

XG.  L.  Beer,  "The  English-Speaking  Peoples,"  pp.  190-191,  New 
York,  1917. 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     57 

anything  of  the  kind  really  existed  before  the  World  War. 
"Unconsciously"  perhaps  it  did,  in  the  sense  that  inas- 
much as  the  English  strain  has  always  preponderated  very 
greatly  in  the  population  numbers  of  the  United  States  it 
might  be  expected  to  predominate.  In  1790  a  little  over  90 
per  cent  of  the  white  population  of  the  United  States  was 
of  British  origin,  not  quite  6  per  cent  of  German  ancestry.1 
In  1900,  although  the  population  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States,  as  it  existed  in  1790,  had  grown  from  three 
millions  to  thirty-five  millions,  the  relative  proportions  of 
inhabitants  of  English  and  German  origins  remained  prac- 
tically the  same  (p.  121,  loc.  cit.  ante).  There  can,  ac- 
cordingly, be  little  significance  in  the  compilations  of 
eminent  American  personages,  cited  by  Mr.  Beer,  showing 
that,  for  approximately  every  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
British  names  in  his  lists,  only  six  German  ones  appear; 
for  the  ratio  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  for  the  total 
population. 

The  widespread  distrust  of  all  persons  having  Ger- 
manic origins  or  connections  that  existed  during  the  World 
War  does  not  warrant  the  assumption  that  a  similar  feeling 
existed  before  1914.  It  is,  moreover,  the  personal  opinion 
of  the  writer  that  this  distrust  (however  unhappily  justi- 
fied) tended  much  more  strongly  to  undermine  the  Ameri- 
can loyalty  of  the  citizen  of  German  origin  during  the 
war  period  than  could  any  amount  of  German  propaganda. 
And  the  saving  grace  of  the  situation  was  that  in  each 
community  loyal  citizens  of  German  ancestry  were  sus- 

1UA  Century  of  Population  Growth,"  p.  117.  Publication,  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor,  Bureau  of  the  Census;  Government 
Printing  Office,  Washington,   1909. 


58  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tained  by  the  continued  confidence  of  their  British-de- 
scended friends  and  intimates,  regardless  of  the  feeling 
current  in  the  nation  at  large. 

The  loyalty  of  patriotism  is  in  its  ultimate  analysis  only 
allegiance  and  devotion  to  friends,  neighbours,  and  as- 
sociates. By  co-operation  with  those  who  live  about  him, 
and  with  those  whom  he  encounters  in  his  daily  affairs,  the 
individual  derives  advantage  from  the  place.  If,  then,  he 
adheres  to  the  self-seeking  of  any  foreign  community  and 
to  the  disadvantage  of  his  own  home,  he  is  not  only  a 
traitor  to  his  friends  but  a  fool  as  well.  While  there  are 
traitors  of  this  kind  it  would  probably  appear,  on  examin- 
ation of  the  individual  cases,  that  in  the  majority  of  in- 
stances the  actual  interests  or  expectations  of  the  disloyal 
individual  in  the  foreign  place  are  greater  than  those  he 
has  in  his  immediate  environment.  But  it  does  not  follow 
that  foreign  interests  are  indicated  by  descent.  The 
American  of  any  other  parentage  than  German  who  has 
studied  music  in  Germany  or  sought  a  German  university 
degree  had  a  closer  connection  with  Germany  than  the 
American  of  German  origin  who  may  have  acquired  some 
pride  in  his  ancestry  because  of  glowing  ante-bellum  ac- 
counts of  German  efficiency,  printed  in  American  periodi- 
cals, and  a  marked  Anglophobia,  from  studying  American 
history  in  texts  written  by  British-descended  authors !  So 
potent,  in  fact,  is  the  consciousness  of  adaptation  to  a  par- 
ticular environment,  of  like-mindedness  with  a  limited 
group,  that  it  actually  constitutes  a  deterrent  to  the  de- 
velopment of  a  larger  nationality.  But  once  established 
the  larger  units  tend  to  persist,  for  the  smaller  communi- 
ties find  that  the  greater  protection  and  the  enlarged  op- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE     59 

portunity  of  the  expanded  organization  more  than  com- 
pensate for  the  loss  of  some  particular  advantage  of  the 
smaller  group.  In  the  end,  always,  the  individuals  of  a 
community  and  the  communities  of  a  nation  owe  their 
cohesion  to  the  influence  of  the  place. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE 

No  one  of  the  commonly  accepted  criteria — race,  lan- 
guage, religion,  or  governmental  system — can  by  itself  be 
made  to  serve  as  a  basic  determinant  for  distinguishing  be- 
tween nationalities.  Collectively — that  is,  as  they  are  en- 
countered in  a  variety  of  permutations  and  combinations 
— these  items  are  representative  of  the  culture  of  nation- 
alities. But  any  attempt  to  make  distinctions  between 
nations  by  using  race  or  language,  or  any  other  similar 
attribute,  as  a  unit  character  for  comparison,  fails,  because 
whatever  significance  indicative  of  a  particular  nationality 
that  these  elements  may  have  depends  upon  the  special 
combination  in  which  they  are  joined  in  each  case.  More- 
over, each  national  group  exhibits,  in  its  human  units, 
personal  traits  which  also  enter  into  the  complex  that  in 
sum  expresses  nationality.  And  this  totality  of  the 
complex  is  in  each  case  a  reflection  of  the  particular 
environment. 

Very  few  of  those  who  may  lay  claim  to  be  informed  are 
now  disposed  to  controvert  the  existence  and  the  effec- 
tiveness of  the  environmental  influence  in  shaping  the 
outlook  and  the  particular  acquired  characteristics  of 
human  communities.  But  it  is  still  quite  generally  main- 
tained that  race,  language,  literature,  religion,  customs, 

moral  and  civil  law  are  a  part  of  environment — are,  in 

60 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  61 

fact,  the  part  which  alone  is  peculiarly  responsible  for  the 
development  of  distinguishing  traits  between  people,  and, 
further,  that  this  part  is  independent  of  region  as  such. 
It  is  herein  contended  that  this  position  is  not  based  on 
fact.  On  the  contrary,  the  culture  of  the  group  which 
these  things  collectively  represent  is  the  product  of  en- 
vironment. The  culture  of  the  group  is,  indeed,  potent  in 
moulding  the  individual  but  has  itself  always  a  locational 
origin  and  aspect. 

The  pervasive  influence  of  place,  of  the  inanimate 
furnishment  of  the  world,  both  inorganic  and  organic,  is 
at  the  bottom  of  environment.  Moreover,  since  the  inor- 
ganic engenders  the  organic,  everything  of  environment  is 
finally  based  on  the  lay  of  the  land,  its  equipment  and 
contact  with  water,  both  fresh  and  salt;  and  its  position 
under  the  sun.  And,  as  individuals  and  communities  do 
vary  widely  in  culture,  it  follows,  further,  that  there 
must  be  .notable  differences  in  the  regions  of  the  earth, 
for  otherwise  men  everywhere  would  be  patterned  after 
the  same  mould  and  there  would  be  no  occasion  for 
argument. 

Finally,  then,  as  to  backgrounds  the  severalties  of  na- 
tions are  marked  out  by  the  major  variations  in  kind  of 
the  lands  of  the  earth. 

A  nation  may  be  defined  as  a  group  of  individuals  ani- 
mated by  a  unity  of  interest.  In  the  national  community 
there  is  common  consent  that  all  individuals  within  the 
group  may  participate  in  the  general  advantages  of  the 
unit.  In  this  sense  the  nation  is  the  direct  descendant  of 
the  family,  the  clan,  the  tribe.  Individuals  do  not  have 
equal  standing  within  a  nation,  but  those  who  are  of  the 


62  INHERITING  THE  EAETH 

group  may  compete  with  one  another  for  place  and  posses- 
sions on  equal  terms,  except  as  this  free  competition  may 
be  restricted  by  the  internal  organization  of  the  group. 
Such  restrictions,  however,  are  again  a  matter  of  common 
consent.  There  may  be  included  within  the  nation  minori- 
ties of  population  that  do  not  share  these  rights,  but  those 
peoples  are  only  within,  not  of,  the  nation.  No  matter 
how  great  a  disparity  of  standing  the  particular  culture 
of  a  nation  may  impose  on  its  different  classes  of  citizens 
the  essential  unity  of  nationality  is  made  manifest  in  war 
when  all  groups  lay  aside  their  particular  interests  to 
participate  in  the  common  armed  enterprise.  Willingness 
to  do  this,  involving,  as  it  does  for  the  individual,  the 
possible  supreme  sacrifice  of  losing  one's  life,  sufficiently 
expresses  a  realization  of  distinctive  nationality. 

The  correlation  of  nationality,  so  defined,  and  place  is 
for  particular  instances  a  problem  of  complexities.  The 
fact  that  place  is  distinctively  the  basis  on  which  national 
existence  develops  does  not  preclude  history  and  economic 
organization  from  significance  in  particularizing  on  the 
growth  and  status  of  a  given  group.  Because  place  is 
fundamental,  it  does  not.  follow  that  an  identical  national 
culture  would  result  from  placing  unlike  peoples  in  turn 
on  the  same  region.  Progress  everywhere  is  ultimately 
dependent  on  individual  initiative.  When  such  initiative 
is  successful  it  is  immediately  copied  extensively  and  this 
gives  a  trend  to  future  development.  In  the  early  stages 
of  their  occupation  of  the  same  locality,  each  different 
group  would  follow  the  trend  supplied  by  the  early  utili- 
zations of  its  own  members,  hence  if  the  region  were  at 
all  varied  in  its  possibilities  it  would  only  be  by  coin- 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  63 

cidence  that  the  ultimate  cultures  would  be  alike.  Peoples, 
leaders,  varied  cultures  have  identity;  are  competent  fac- 
tors in  shaping  the  course  of  human  events,  though  they 
owe  their  existence  and  opportunity  to  place. 

Considerations  of  this  kind  make  it  necessary,  in  any 
attempt  to  demonstrate  the  relationship  of  place  and  peo- 
ple in  the  development  of  national  culture,  to  go  back  to 
the  first  manifestations  of  communal  organization.  Mod- 
ern nations  have  had  too  many  contacts  with  differing 
earlier  cultures  and  are  too  intimately  occupant  of  their 
lands — that  is,  have  developed  so  great  a  variety  of  re- 
sources— that  they  do  not  afford  opportunity  for  simple 
analysis.  It  is  otherwise  with  primitive  folk.  The  appel- 
lation, primitive,  in  itself  implies  that  the  culture  it  desig- 
nates has  not  suffered  modification  by  contact  with  varying 
cultures;  through  which  opportunity  is  afforded  for  ad- 
vancement along  different  lines.  If,  further,  a  primitive 
people  is  regarded  as  being  first  in  a  place  it  follows  that 
their  culture  developed — that  is,  became  organized — in 
accordance  with  the  impress  of  the  place. 

Geographers  have  a  formula  which  is  admirably  adapted 
to  the  measurement  of  the  possibilities  of  a  place  for 
occupation  by  a  primitive  group  and,  by  virtue  of  this 
possession,  of  the  possibilities  of  advance  in  the  group. 
This  formula  consists  of  the  three  words:  Opportunity, 
Necessity,  Protection.  Opportunity  may  be  defined  as  the 
extent  of  the  margin  of  production  (primarily  of  food) 
over  subsistence ;  Necessity,  as  the  existence  of  a  stimulus 
to  expenditure  of  energy,  usually  referable  to  a  season  of 
dearth  or  unproductiveness;  Protection,  as  the  degree  of 
shelter  afforded  by  natural  barriers  from  interference  by 


64  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

other  groups.  If  any  one  of  these  three  requisites  is  en- 
tirely lacking  in  a  given  place  it  is  obvious  that  progress 
in  organization  will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  the 
primitive  peoples  there  dwelling.  It  may  be,  also,  that 
an  inordinate  provision  of  one  of  these  factors  will  nega- 
tive the  effects  of  the  other  two.  Thus  too  great  Oppor- 
tunity discounts  the  Necessity  for  effort,  too  great  Neces- 
sity may  mean  that  only  bare  existence  is  possible,  and 
too  complete  Protection  may  indicate  isolation  and  stag- 
nation. If,  however,  a  place  affords  Opportunity,  Neces- 
sity, and  Protection  in  not  disproportionate  ratio  it  may 
be  expected  that  an  occupant  community  will  develop  in 
accordance  with  the  range  of  possibilities,  in  the  variety  of 
combinations  and  differences  in  kind,  that  the  three  po- 
tentialities afford. 

Another  consideration,  however,  remains  to  be  taken 
into  account.  A  nation  implies  a  larger  population  group 
than  that  of  a  clan  or  tribe.  The  first  step  in  the  develop- 
ment of  nationality,  accordingly,  involves  the  establish- 
ment of  cohesion,  unity  of  interest,  between  comparatively 
large  numbers  of  people.  It  will  readily  be  apparent  that 
this  result  could  scarcely  come  about  in  the  youth  of  a  peo- 
ple if  they  were  subject  to  an  environment  which  (though 
it  might  constitute  a  suitable  background  for  a  nation  well 
advanced  in  cultural  status)  was  distinctly  varied  in  aspect 
within  narrow  areal  limits.  In  the  diversified  region  each 
separate  departure  from  the  environmental  norm  ought, 
and  probably  would,  tend  to  create  a  special  cultural  varia- 
tion in  the  primitive  groups,  hence  would  automatically 
check  development,  because  each  distinctive  region  would 
be  too  small  to  permit  the  aggregation  of  large  numbers. 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  65 

The  possibility  of  a  nation,  as  distinct  from  a  tribe,  de- 
pends on  numbers.  Once  the  numbers  are  associated 
further  national  advance  becomes  possible.  Therefore, 
in  addition  to  affording  the  proper  measure  of  Oppor- 
tunity, Necessity,  and  Protection,  a  place  adapted  to  bring 
about  the  first  manifestations  of  national  organization 
must  also  possess  a  uniformity  of  environmental  condi- 
tions over  relatively  wide  areas. 

The  lands  of  the  world  may  be  broadly  classified  into 
seven  great  types  of  natural  regions :  Tropical  Lowlands ; 
Tropical  Uplands  and  Tropical,  Small  Islands;  Deserts; 
Desert  Edge  Lands;  Steppe  Lands;  Temperate  Humid 
Lands;  Arctic  Tundras. 

It  is  significant  that  only  one  of  these  types  of  natural 
regions,  the  Temperate  Humid  Lands,  presents  a  notable 
diversity  of  environmental  conditions  within  small  areal 
compass,  and  that  this  is  the  type  in  which  the  modern 
nations  have  developed.  With  the  possible  exception  of 
the  Tropical  Uplands  and  Tropical,  Small  Islands,  which 
furnish  examples  of  arrested  national  development,  the 
other  regions  are  all  marked  by  a  broad  uniformity  of 
conditions  over  wide  stretches  of  territory,  and  it  is  on 
these  uniform  lands  that  the  first  advances  in  national  or- 
ganization were  made,  and  on  them  the  primitive  peoples 
of  the  world  still  live. 

The  Tropical  Lowlands  are  notably  uniform  and  have, 
in  places,  a  wide  extension  as  continuous  territory,  hence 
afford  the  initial  prerequisites  for  the  founding  of  nations. 
While  Opportunity  in  such  lands  is  ordinarily  ample  it 
is  a  mistake  to  assume  that  life  in  all  equatorial  lowlands 
is  easy.    The  tropical  luxuriance  of  vegetation  may  afford 


66  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

but  few  species  of  plants  or  trees  producing  material 
suitable  for  human  food,  and  the  animal  denizens  of  those 
lands  may  also  be  little  adapted  for  human  consumption. 
Birds  and  fishes  may  comprise  the  bulk  of  the  available 
food  supply.  Under  limitations  so  imposed  population 
growth  is  inhibited ;  accordingly,  the  presence  of  the  num- 
bers that  are  a  first  essential  for  the  constitution  of  a  na- 
tion is  precluded.  Ordinarily,  however,  it  may  be  as- 
sumed that  the  Opportunity  of  the  Tropical  Lowlands  is 
ample,  for  the  needs  of  their  inhabitants  are  slight.  Na- 
tive fruits,  fishes,  birds,  and  forest  animals  supplemented 
by  the  yield  of  simple,  pointed-stick  agriculture  furnish 
the  food  supply.  Clothing  and  shelter  are  little  required. 
The  density  of  the  equatorial  rain  forest  provides  Protec- 
tion to  the  degree  of  isolation.  Indeed  the  tropical  forest 
is  an  ineradicable  obstacle  to  progress  on  the  part  of  man, 
in  his  early  stages  of  development,  because  its  luxuriance 
of  growth  is  so  great  that  he  can  not  cope  with  it  using 
primitive  tools  and  methods,  hence  is  estopped  from  mak- 
ing extended  clearings.  x  It  opposes  itself  quite  suc- 
cessfully, in  fact,  to  the  mechanical  ingenuities  and  multi- 
plication of  power  brought  forward  by  modern  industrial- 
ism. But  the  total  lack  of  any  stimulus  to  effort  is  the 
factor  that  has  most  effectively  discouraged  progress  in 
tropical  lowlands.     The  absence  of  seasons,  the  unending 

1  Raphael  Zon,  "Forests  and  Human  Progress,"  Geographical  Re- 
view, Vol.  IX,  p.  140,  1920.  "It  (the  forest)  prevented  the  spread 
of  the  Hamites  from  North  Africa  southward  and  stopped  the  move- 
ment into  the  Congo  region  of  the  cattle-keeping  aristocracies  such 
as  the  Bahima.  ...  In  the  heart  of  the  Congo  forest  no  traces  of 
an  ancient  population  have  been  found.  All  evidence  points  to  a 
comparatively  recent  penetration  of  man." 


THE  NATION"  AND  THE  PLACE  67 

monotony  of  days,  each  like  the  last,  and  again  like  the 
one  to  come,  make  any  provision  for  the  future  an  alto- 
gether futile  proceeding.  The  continuous  heat  and  mois- 
ture further  discourage  effort. 

It  is  true  that  at  favoured  spots  fishing  villages  of  some 
size  and  permanency  may  become  established,  for  fish- 
food  is,  under  these  conditions,  even  more  easily  available 
than  the  kill  of  the  hunt  or  the  recovery  of  forest  products. 
But  where  considerable  states  have  been  set  up  in  the 
tropics,  and  life  made  dependent  primarily  on  agriculture, 
these  advances  have  probably  always  resulted  originally 
from  the  invasion  of  the  tropical  area  by  a  more  virile 
stock  from  lands  with  a  harder  environment.  Under  the 
compulsion  of  alien  rule  the  forest  and  jungle  may  be 
removed  by  native  labour.  Then  the  larger  and  more 
certain  food  supply  brings  about  population  increase.  But 
the  intruders  who  force  these  changes  in  the  regime  of 
Tropical  Lowlands  themselves  soon  yield  to  the  climatic 
enervation,  so  that,  while  their  states  may  exhibit  a  certain 
barbaric  opulence,  perhaps  a  few  architectural  monuments, 
little  further  progress  in  national  organization  is  made. 

Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  may  the  beginnings  of  national 
organization  be  looked  for  in  the  dreary  arctic  wastes, 
where,  though  again  a  vast  uniformity  prevails,  life  is  as 
hard  as  it  is,  by  contrast,  easy  in  the  regions  of  equatorial 
forest.  In  the  arctic  barrens  the  always  pressing,  and 
seldom  completely  met,  need  for  food,  for  clothes,  for  shel- 
ter, and  for  fuel,  and  the  uniformity  of  the  long  night, 
coupled  with  extreme  cold  that  compels  inactivity  and  un- 
productiveness, require  that  the  whole  sum  of  human 
energy  be  expended  merely  for  the  maintenance  of  exist- 


68  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

ence.  In  the  Arctic  the  very  impossibility  of  agriculture 
significantly  dispossesses  man  from  any  regional  hold  on 
the  land.  With  the  exception  of  reindeer  herds,  musk- 
oxen,  and  arctic  birds  for  food,  and  stone  or  snow  blocks 
for  winter  dwellings,  the  land  contributes  but  little  to 
the  support  of  the  Eskimo,  who,  on  the  northern  shores  and 
islands  of  North  America  and  the  bleak  coasts  of  Green- 
land, occupy  the  hardest  of  arctic  environments.  The 
chief  dependence  of  the  Eskimo  is  the  spoil  of  the  sea, 
secured  by  the  activities  of  huntsmen  and  fishermen. 
Eskimo  food  is  the  flesh  of  fish,  of  seals,  of  walrus,  and  of 
polar  bears;  their  fuel,  oil  from  blubber;  their  clothes  and 
summer  tents  are  fashioned  from  skins,  of  the  seal  pri- 
marily; their  canoes,  too,  are  casings  of  such  skins  on  a 
framework  of  bones  bound  together  with  thongs.  The  little 
wood  they  have  for  implements  is  drifted  to  them  over  the 
sea  from  warmer  shores.  As  almost  the  whole  existence 
of  the  Eskimo  is  bound  up  in  the  sea  it  is  very  near  the 
literal  truth  to  say  that  they  have  no  home  on  the  land. 
The  capture  of  the  various  animals  named icom pels  a  wan- 
dering life,  for  as  these  creatures  of  the  sea  are  of  differ- 
ent habits  and  habitats,  and  migrate  with  the  seasons,  so 
also  must  their  human  enemies  move  about  in  pursuit. 
And  a  wandering  existence  precludes  accumulation  of 
bulky  property,  the  materials  and  possessions  of  a  com- 
plexly organized  life. 

Essentially  the  same  considerations  apply  to  the  nomad 
tribes  of  north  Siberia,  which,  although  they  derive  their 
sustenance  in  part  from  hunting  and  trapping  on  the 
land,  probably  lead  an  even  more  miserable  and  precarious 
existence    than    do   the    Eskimo.      Ample    Protection    is 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  69 

afforded  to  arctic  dwellers  by  the  barren  reaches  of  ice 
and  snow  that  mantle  the  land  in  winter,  and  by  the  im- 
passable morasses  that  prevail  over  most  of  the  area  in 
summer;  but  this  only  spells  isolation,  denying,  until  re- 
cent times,  even  the  advantages  and  stimulus  of  trade 
exchanges  and  contacts  with  other  cultures.  The  arctic 
lands  compel  that  all  individuals  shall  function  in  the  same 
way;  they  offer  no  occasion  for  the  division  of  labour, 
specialization  in  effort,  or  co-ordination  and  organization 
in  the  direction  of  common  affairs. 

The  true  Desert  in  its  utter  deficiency  of  water  and 
vegetation  denies  altogether  the  possibility  of  human  exist- 
ence based  on  its  products.  The  Steppe  Lands  afford  some 
sustenance  but  not  enough  to  permit  integration  of  their 
populations.  The  Deserts  and  the  Steppe  Lands,  like  the 
Tropical  Lowlands  and  the  Arctic  Tundras,  have  uni- 
formity, the  one  that  of  sand  and  rock  waste,  the  other 
that  of  interminable  grasslands,  but  these  so  parched  by 
drouth  that  animal  comm,unities,  including  man  and  his 
domesticated  dependants,  must  extend  their  range  over 
wide  areas  in  order  to  secure  enough  food  for  continued 
existence.  Life  is  indeed  easier  on  the  treeless  plains 
than  on  the  arctic  coasts,  and  harder  than  in  the  favoured 
areas  of  the  tropics,  so  that  the  disproportion  between 
Opportunity  and  Necessity  is  not  so  great  as  in  the  two 
former  regions.  But  if  Necessity  is  not  so  urgent,  the 
totality,  and  particularly  the  variety,  of  Opportunity  in 
the  Steppe  Lands  is  slight. 

The  dweller  on  the  steppes  is  a  nomad,  his  wealth  is 
measured  by  his  herds,  and  the  preservation  of  his  wealth 
means  finding  sustenance  for  the  animals  that  compose  it. 


70  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

No  one  area  will  afford  pasturage  for  any  appreciable 
length  of  time,  so  that  continual  movement  is  necessary. 
The  distance  apart  of  the  essential  water-holes,  wells,  and 
springs  increases  the  scope  of  the  migrations.  The  steppe 
population  is,  therefore,  spread  thinly  over  wide  territory. 
Opportunity  is  most  fully  realized  and  the  impositions  of 
Necessity  best  met  by  the  independent  existence  of  small 
groups.  Human  communities  accordingly  are  reduced 
to  their  lowest  units,  the  small  tribe,  and  ultimately  to 
that  of  the  patriarch  and  his  family.  And  if  these  small 
nuclei  could  suffice  for  the  beginnings  of  a  national  or- 
ganization, the  increase  in  wealth  by  numbers  of  the  herds 
that  must  accompany  population  growth  would  inevitably 
lead  to  dispersal,  a  diminishing  rather  than  a  firmer  hold 
on  the  land. 

Moreover,  natural  Protection  from  molestation  on  the 
steppes  is  meagre;  neither  topographic  nor  forest  conceal- 
ment is  available.  Hence  in  any  encounter  the  stronger 
family,  clan  or  tribe  survives.  Thus  the  decentralization 
of  life  develops  in  the  dwellers  on  the  steppes  a  resolute 
spirit  of  independence,  and  an  impatience  of  all  restraint 
beyond  that  imposed  in  the  unit,  family  group.  The 
office  of  sheik  is  an  empty  post  in  the  normal  life  of  the 
steppe  nomad.  There  is  ordinarily  no  demand  for  or- 
ganization in  greater  aggregates.  Only  when  a  season  of 
unusual  drouth,  or  a  pestilence  among  the  cattle,  threatens 
famine  does  occasion  arise  for  concentration  and  concerted 
action  of  the  widespread  population.  Then  the  pastoral 
hordes  may  unite  for  irruption  into  the  better  watered 
agricultural  lands  beyond  their  normal  habitat. 

For  the  enterprise  of  conquest  the  steppe  environment 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  71 

eminently  fits  the  nomad  warrior.  Overcoming  the  weaker 
with  concomitant  robbery  is  to  him  an  ingrained  practice 
and  virtue.  Nomadic  life  entails  mobility,  the  commissa- 
riat of  the  nomad  army  is  self -transporting.  The  invasion 
of  the  agricultural  lands  is  therefore  swift  and  effective. 
The  facility  of  the  nomad  conquest  makes  it  rapid,  the 
mould  of  the  steppe  environment  on  the  individual  makes 
it  far-reaching  in  a  short  time.  Over  the  conquered 
area,  as  in  their  grassland  home,  the  shepherds  spread 
themselves  thinly  across  a  wide  region.  The  former  rulers 
they  then  displace,  the  occupant  population  they  exploit. 
As  overlords  they  bring  about  political  cohesion  for  the 
purpose  of  a  systematic  despoliation.  Conquest  for  them 
is  the  tribal  foray,  and  its  accompanying  pillage  magnified. 
But  there  is  no  attachment  of  the  conqueror  to  the  land 
as  long  as  the  influence  ofithe  earlier  environment  persists. 
The  Turks  have  only  been  encamped  in  Europe;  they  did 
not  develop  the  land  over  which  they  for  long  held 
sway.  And  this  has  been  the  general  story  of  the  barbarian 
empires  of  the  past,  when  founded  by  nomads.  They  were 
not  organizations  of  national  culture  founded  on  the  place. 
The  temporary,  ungeographic  consolidations  fell  apart  as 
the  nomad  rulers  became  weakened  and  enervated  by  the 
new  surroundings.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  invaders 
became  assimilated  in  the  native  population,  then  the  en- 
during mould  of  the  place  was  asserting  itself,  and  new 
groups  were  formed  having  stability  and  possibilities  for 
progress  in  accordance  with  the  particular  environmental 
features  that  were  effective  in  the  region  conquered. 

It  is  significant  to  note  that  when  the  individualistic 
steppe  nomads  projected  themselves  into  regions  where 


72  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

agricultural  production  was  the  basis  of  human  existence 
they  tended  to  form  organized  states  and  exercised  wide 
dominion.  This  last  was  in  accord  with  their  earlier  ex- 
perience of  extensive  territorial  life,  but  the  organization 
of  large  aggregates  of  population  reflects  the  influence  of 
the  agricultural  status.  Agricultural  lands  are,  therefore, 
indicated  as  the  type  of  region  in  which  an  indigenous  na- 
tional culture  could  also  be  first  expected  to  appear. 

While  Deserts,  as  such,  consist  of  sand  and  rock  waste 
they  include  within  their  borders  oases  made  agriculturally 
productive  by  a  supply  of  water  from  underground  sources. 
The  area  of  an  oasis  is,  however,  usually  quite  limited, 
for  the  supply  of  life-giving  water  can  at  best  be  adequate 
for  only  a  narrow  tract,  since  the  environmental  condi- 
tion of  high  evaporation  that  produces  the  surrounding 
desert  does  not  fail  to  exact  a  large  toll  from  the  moisture 
of  the  oasis.  The  community  which  the  oasis  supports  is, 
however,  sedentary;  it  occupies  continuously  the  place 
from  which  it  secures  its  livelihood.  Moreover,  the  more 
carefully  it  uses  the  water  the  greater  will  be  its  security 
of  existence  and  its  prosperity.  The  oasis  economy  may 
not  tolerate  the  wastefulness  of  individual  caprice.  Co- 
operative effort  and  interdependence  of  individuals  is 
necessary.  Except,  then,  for  the  limitation  of  size  the 
oasis  would  seem  to  afford  suitable  conditions  for  the 
initiation  of  nationality.1 

Hence  it  may  be  considered  entirely  expectable  that  it 
was  on  a  magnified  oasis,  a  Desert  Edge  Land,  that  the 

1  An  admirable  and  detailed  account  of  the  geographic  and  eco- 
nomic conditions  of  life  in  one  region  of  oases  will  be  found  in 
Jean  Brunhes'  "Human  Geography,"  English  edition,  Chicago,  1920. 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE      73 

first  nationality  known  to  history,  Egypt,  arose.  In  the 
midst  of  the  African  desert  there  exists  a  narrow,  long 
strip  of  land,  the  flood  plain  of  the  Nile,  watered  by  the 
annual  rise  and  overflow  of  that  river.  Throughout  its 
extent  the  region  has  a  uniform  climate.,  hot  enough  to 
make  life  easy  in  respect  of  the  need  for  clothes,  shelter, 
and  fuel,  yet  free  from  the  enervating  atmospheric  mois- 
ture of  the  equatorial  belts.  Freedom  from  excess  humid- 
ity made  increased  expenditure  of  human  energy  possible 
in  the  Nile  region,  and  it  also  prevented  the  growth  of 
a  continuous  forest  to  obstruct  and  handicap  man's  occu- 
pation of  that  area.  For  while  the  plain  was  watered 
periodically,  and  sufficiently  to  permit  the  establishment 
of  agriculture,  it  should  also  be  noted  that  the  period  of 
fertility,  due  to  the  overflow  of  the  river,  was  followed 
by  a  time  of  drouth  which,  while  it  made  forest  growth 
impossible,  also  imposed  the  necessity  of  supplementing 
the  natural  flushing  of  the  land  with  further  water  from 
the  river,  at  its  lower  stages,  artificially  supplied  by  irri- 
gation devices. 

Here,  then,  was  a  region  having  uniformity  of  climate 
and  a  single,  simple  condition  of  topography  and  soil ;  the 
level,  fine-textured  alluvium  of  a  flood  plain.  On  all  of 
this  area  the  same  type  of  agriculture  could  be  practised 
and  everywhere  it  would  be  equally  productive  of  results. 
Any  invention  or  novelty  in  method  that  increased  the 
yield  could  be  utilized  elsewhere  in  the  domain  with  simi- 
lar success.  And  there  was  demand  for  such  improvements. 
The  period  of  drouth  following  the  period  of  growth  and 
harvest  was  an  incentive  to  accumulate  as  great  a  store  as 
possible  of  corn.     To  maintain  an  irrigation  system  was 


74  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

not  within  the  province  of  a  single  individual's  efforts,  or 
even  those  of  a  single  family,  much  less  could  an  individual 
or  family  extend  an  irrigation  system  over  wide  areas. 
Co-operation  was  essential  to  successful  utilization  of  the 
land. 

On  the  other  hand  life  on  the  Nile  plain  was  simple  and 
relatively  easy.  The  climate  imposed  no  great  necessities. 
With  proper  care  the  land  could  be  made  to  produce  an 
abundance  of  food  for  a  large  population,  without  requir- 
ing for  this  purpose  the  expenditure  of  the  total  energies 
of  the  people.  The  deserts  adjacent  protected  the  inhabi- 
tants from  marauders.  Hence  there  was  leisure  to  devote 
to  the  production  of  other  things  than  those  of  mere  neces- 
sity. For  these  commodities  the  cultivators  could  ex- 
change their  surplus  corn.  Each  citizen,  however,  recog- 
nized that  his  neighbours  and  they,  that  their  neighbours 
in  turn,  and  so  on,  were  similarly  situated,  that  between 
them  all  there  must  be  the  common  community  of  interests 
and  freedom  of  competition  that  prevails  within  the  bor- 
ders of  national  territory.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Nile 
plain,  therefore,  were  a  people  definitely  settled  upon,  and 
conscious  of  their  occupancy  of  a  distinctly  marked  out 
place,  uniform  over  all  its  area  in  climate  and  soil  and 
in  the  conditions  it  imposed  for  existence;  a  place  where 
the  organized  efforts  of  those  who  tilled  were  capable  of 
supplying  the  food  needs  of  a  far  more  numerous  popula- 
tion than  their  own  number,  giving  leisure  and  opportunity 
thus  for  division  and  specialization  of  labour  and  the 
production  of  the  variety  of  merchandise  that  evokes 
commerce. 

At  this  point  it  is  pertinent  to  recall  how  generally  those 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  75 

lands  where  the  establishment  of  agriculture  is  dependent 
on  the  practice  of  irrigation  have  also  been  the  cradles 
of  civilization  and  of  national  culture.  As  in  Egypt,  so 
likewise  did  the  people  of  Mesopotamia,  of  Greece,  Italy, 
Carthage,  and  of  Spain  under  the  Moors,  of  China,  India, 
Tibet,  and  Japan,  the  Incas  of  Peru  and  the  Pueblo  In- 
dians of  the  southwest  of  the  United  States,  all  owe  some- 
thing, or  much,  of  their  cultural  rise  to  the  fact  that  irri- 
gation was  an  essential  part  of  their  husbandry,  and  that 
its  practice  required  co-operation  and  organization.  How 
the  requirements  of  irrigation  must  have  acted  in  an- 
tiquity, in  stimulating  the  organization  of  human  groups, 
is  remarkably  illustrated  in  an  account  *  of  irrigation 
societies  among  primitive  Filipinos  in  modern  times. 
These  natives  were  found  not  only  to  be  working  exten- 
sive systems  co-operatively,  but  also  to  be  bound  together 
for  this  purpose  by  elaborate  regulations  designed  to  in- 
sure that  each  worker  did  his  part  at  the  proper  time  and 
to  safeguard  each  individual  right  in  the  fruits  of  the 
work. 

The  beginnings  of  national  culture  in  Mesopotamia  may 
not  be  of  so  early  a  date  as  that  of  Egypt.  If  not,  it  is  to 
be  remembered  that  the  place  was  of  far  vaster  dimensions 
(ten  times  more  land  was  available  for  agriculture  under 
irrigation)  and  that  it  was  more  open  to  foreign  influences 
than  was  the  desert-protected  Egyptian  plain.  Accord- 
ingly  more  time  was  required  to  bring   it  under  unit 

*E.  B.  Christie,  "Notes  on  Irrigation  and  Co-operative  Irrigation 
in  Ilocos  Norte,"  Philippine  Journal  of  Science,  Section  D,  Vol.  IX, 
1914,  No.  2,  pp.  99-113.  Reviewed  by  F.  H.  Newell;  Geographical 
Review,  March,  1916,  p.  222. 


76  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

organization.     There  was  also  greater  diversity  of  en- 
vironment. 

The  place  here,  as  in  Egypt,  was  an  alluvial  plain,  simi- 
lar, too,  over  all  its  extent  in  climatic  regime  and  response 
to  cultivation.  But  instead  of  the  impassable,  desert  bar- 
rier of  Egypt,  the  Mesopotamian  area  had  marsh  and 
steppe  for  border  lands.  The  marshes  afforded  sufficient 
protection,  at  first,  for  the  small  groups  that  became  es- 
tablished between  them.  But  the  marshes  tended  to  dis- 
appear as  cultivation  was  extended,  and,  even  where  their 
original  dimensions  persisted,  they  became  inadequate  as 
protective  barriers  when  the  development  of  the  riverine 
lands  attracted  the  envious  eyes  of  the  bordering  steppe 
and  mountain  peoples  who  had,  meanwhile,  themselves 
made  some  progress,  as  a  result  of  contact  with  the  ad- 
vanced dwellers  of  the  plains.  Thus  groups  that  had  had 
to  rely  exclusively  on  their  war  prowess  for  defence  and 
aggression  on  the  open  steppe  lands  very  shortly  and  very 
easily  conquered  the  peaceful  agricultural  communities 
of  the  plains,  merged  with  them,  and  established  a  single 
rule  over  all  the  large  Mesopotamian  area.  Moreover,  en- 
couraged by  their  initial  successes,  the  nomad  empire  of 
conquest  was  extended  to  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Phoenicia. 
Thus,  for  the  times,  a  considerable  diversity  of  regions 
and  peoples  were  brought  into  contact.  But  the  national 
culture  so  established  over  a  wide  area  was  not  a  natural 
one — that  is,  one  founded  on  place  and  community  of  in- 
terest among  the  peoples  involved — but  rather  an  artificial 
uprearing  that  engendered  hostilities  and  a  separatist 
feeling.  The  peoples  affected  learned  the  advantage  of 
national  unity,  but  were  disposed  to  try  it  by  themselves 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  77 

and  only  as  compassed  by  their  own  environment.  The 
empire  of  the  Assyrians  failed  to  maintain  itself  in  part, 
therefore,  because  it  had  been  set  up  by  force,  but  more 
because  national  culture  had  not  yet  advanced  to  the  stage 
where  considerable  measure  of  diversity  in  place  could 
be  conceived  as  fostering  identity  of  human  interest ;  that 
is,  unit  nationality. 

Realization  of  the  advantages  of  coherence  in  large 
groups  and  of  national  culture  spread  westward  into  the 
Mediterranean  border  areas,  where  further  diversity  of 
habitable  environment  and  a  notable  variety  in  national 
sites  are  encountered.  Mountain,  plain,  and  sea  are  there 
in  intimate  contact.  As  protecting  barriers  the  desert 
and  marsh  yield  to  mountain  ridges  and  oceanic  expanses. 
The  Mediterranean  climate,  however,  is  essentially  uni- 
form ;  sufficiently  genial  over  the  whole  basin  for  the  nur- 
ture of  human  groups  little  competent  to  struggle  with  the 
adversities  of  nature,  and  have  a  remainder  of  energy  for 
the  realization  of  more  than  a  mere  existence.  Moreover, 
the  forest  was  not  continuous  on  the  Mediterranean  low- 
lands even  in  primitive  times,  though  the  mountains  were 
wooded.  Agriculture,  as  in  the  earlier  developed  nation- 
alities, needed  to  depend  on  the  practice  of  irrigation  to 
insure  certain  and  larger  yields. 

Of  the  varied  national  sites  nevertheless  available  about 
the  Mediterranean  basin,  despite  its  general  uniformity  of 
environment,  those  on  which  the  Greek  city-states  origin- 
ated are  most  characteristic ;  and  the  national  idea,  as  it 
developed  on  these  sites,  has  exerted  a  profound  influ- 
ence on  the  organization  of  the  modem  world.  Typically 
the  sites  of  the  Greek  city-states  comprised  a  plain,  open- 


78  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

ing  out  on  one  side  to  the  sea  and  closed  in  at  the  rear  by 
an  amphitheatre  of  mountains.  The  heavier  rainfall  of 
the  mountains,  and  its  slow  percolation  off  the  wooded 
slopes,  furnished  a  fairly  continuous  and  large  flow  to  the 
rivers  that  crossed  the  plains  and,  hence,  a  source  from 
which  a  dependable  supply  of  water  for  irrigation  could  be 
had. 

No  one  of  the  Greek  plains,  however,  was  large,  and 
each  of  them  was  most  effectively  cut  off  from  its  neigh- 
bours by  barriers  of  sea  and  mountain.  This  limitation 
in  area  and  the  compactness  of  each  habitable  site  were 
both  a  handicap  and  an  advantage  to  national  development. 
These  topographic  factors  made  expansion  difficult,  hence 
precluded  the  co-operation  of  very  large  populations ;  they 
were  of  advantage  in  that  they  tended  greatly  to  intensify 
national  life  and  thus  they  led  to  an  almost  precocious 
development  of  national  institutions.  Every  Greek  grew 
up  a  politician.  The  Greek  plains  were  sufficiently  pro- 
ductive to  afford  ample  sustenance,  their  varied  natural 
environment  gave  impulse  to  divergences  in  individual  life 
and  individual  ambitions,  the  while  their  occupant  human 
groups  were  kept  in  accord  by  the  safe  enclosure  and  inti- 
mate contact  that  the  definite  boundaries  and  the  compact- 
ness of  the  sites  insured.  The  wise  men  of  the  Greeks 
argued,  indeed,  that  the  nation  should  not  exceed  in  popu- 
lation the  maximum  number  that  could  be  made  to  hear  a 
speaker's  voice;  expressing  thus  their  realization  of  the 
unity  of  interest  and  co-operation  that  is  at  the  basis  of 
nationality. 

The  Romans,  similarly,  needed  to  find  themselves  at 
home  over  all  the  Italian  Peninsula  (a  natural  geographic 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  79 

unit  but  of  greater  diversity  in  environmental  conditions 
than  the  sites  of  the  Greek  states)  before  they  began  to 
extend  their  imperium  to  remoter  territories.  It  is  al- 
ways this  concept  of  possession,  of  having  an  origin  and  a 
permanent  abiding  place  in  some  definite  region  of  the 
world  that  is  fundamental  to  the  idea  of  the  nation. 
Rome's  roads  focussed  on  Rome  only.  But  Rome  grew  so 
large  that  the  use  of  these  roads  could  not  alone  suffice  to 
link  the  empire  into  a  single  national  structure,  could  not 
weld  it  into  a  united  and  coherent  whole,  despite  the  gen- 
eral acclaim  extended  to  Roman  rule  as  marked  by  Roman 
law  and  Roman  justice.  Roman  civilization  was  only  an 
overlay  to  a  more  fundamental  realization  of  the  environ- 
mental influences  of  their  own  home  places  by  the  peoples 
native  to  the  provinces.  Hence,  even  before  the  barbarian 
invasions,  self-determination  icndencies  were  promoting 
disruption  in  the  Roman  Empire.  Perhaps  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say,  that,  having  all  the  worth-while,  known 
world  in  possession,  the  Romans  lost  their  own  sense  of 
place,  and  hence  of  national  unity. 

Roman  organization  had,  however,  meanwhile  been  ex- 
tended over  the  diverse  regions  of  northern  and  western 
Europe — that  is,  beyond  the  Desert  Edge  Land  into  the 
Temperate  Humid  Lands;  into  environments  different, 
more  complex,  more  difficult  than  that  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean basin,  and  further,  more  varied  in  kind.  The  in- 
habitants of  the  Temperate  Humid  Lands  learned  by  con- 
tact with  the  Romans  both  the  machinery  of  the  state  and 
the  overcoming  of  nature.  They  had  been  taught  how  to 
find  themselves,  nationally,  in  their  own  homes  when 
opportunity  offered.     Not  even  the  turmoil  of  the  bar- 


80  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

barian  invasions  could  deprive  them  of  this  knowledge. 
Moreover,  the  barbarian  invasions  were  in  part,  peaceful 
penetration  and  the  invaders  differed  from  the  conquer- 
ing Eomans  further  in  that  they  established  themselves  on 
the  soil  and  merged  themselves  with  the  earlier  inhabi- 
tants ;  were  not  overlords.  The  shifting  of  population  and 
the  consequent  confusion  involved  by  the  barbarian  inva- 
sions, together  with  the  fact  that  the  regions  the  newcomers 
were  eventually  to  occupy  permanently  were  diverse, 
meant  that  a  long  time  must  elapse  before  there  could  be 
a  settling  down  and  adjustment  to  place.  The  consolida- 
tion of  Western  nationalities  has,  accordingly,  been  slow, 
is  not  yet  complete.  In  areas  having  a  marked  uniformity 
of  environment  stability  was  achieved  earlier  than  else- 
where. Thus  the  established  unity  of  island  Britain  may 
easily  be  appreciated,  even  though  it  required  a  long  period 
to  bring  about  the  consolidation  of  highland  and  lowland 
Scotch,  of  Welsh,  and  of  English,  each  located  on  a  dis- 
tinguishable natural  region  within  the  island.  The  dissent 
of  remote  Ireland  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the 
earlier  history  of  Britain.  The  unique  solidarity  of 
Japan  suggests  that  given  sufficient  time  the  British  island 
populations  can  also  be  brought  into  the  accord  of  a 
single  nationality.  France  has  crystallized  about  the  plain 
of  the  Paris  basin.  The  unity  of  the  Spanish  plateau 
accounts  for  Spain ;  as  the  topographic  difficulty  of  its 
western  slopes  explains  the  separate  existence  of  Portugal. 
Historic  remainders,  an  allegiance  divided  between  a 
concept  of  temporal  power  in  the  church  and  a  realization 
of  place,  deferred  the  unification  of  peninsular  Italy. 
Germany,  however,  only  recently  came  to  understand  the 


THE  NATION"  AND  THE  PLACE  81 

significance  of  its  varied  parts  adhering  to,  and  com- 
prising, a  larger  whole ;  and  went  into  a  frenzy  because  of 
this,  its  belated  discovery  of  nationalism.  The  Austro- 
Hungarian  dual  monarchy  comprised  three  well-defined 
units  of  place;  the  Hungarian  plain,  the  Austrian  hills, 
and  the  Bohemian  plateau.  Despite  the  artificial  bond 
of  government  the  peoples  of  these  three  regions  would 
not  consent  that  there  should  be  a  community  of  interests 
between  them;  that  is,  to  the  establishment  of  a  single 
nationalism.  The  English  colonies  in  North  America  had 
to  be  completely  in  occupation  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
of  the  present  United  States,  and  ready  to  submerge 
their  provincial  ambitions  in  order  to  achieve  the  advan- 
tage of  community  interest  in  a  larger  place,  before  either 
the  Eevolution  or  expansion  westward  could  succeed. 

Finally,  a  word  needs  to  be  added  with  reference  to 
the  significance  of  Tropical  Uplands  as  possible  sites  for 
national  organizations  and  advance.  Tropical  Uplands 
share  in  the  diversity  of  products  that  is  typical  of  the 
Temperate  Humid  Lands,  and  while  they  have  the  equa- 
bility of  the  tropics,  they  are  free  from  the  great  heat  and 
moisture  of  the  equatorial  lowlands.  It  would  seem  that 
Tropical  Uplands  had,  in  accordance  with  a  geographical 
interpretation,  great  possibilities  of  becoming  important 
centres  of  nationality.  But  the  Tropical  Uplands  present, 
rather,  a  spectacle  of  arrested  development.  Abyssinia  is 
a  typical  example.  Its  history  probably  dates  as  far  back 
as  does  that  of  Egypt,  but  Abyssinia  appears  never  to 
have  evolved  a  solidarity  equal  to  that  of  the  Nile  lands. 
The  tropical  monotony  of  a  whole  year  of  days  essentially 
alike,  in  that  no  Necessity  for  more  effort  in  one  season 


82  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

than  another  is  to  be  met,  coupled  with  the  Protection  of 
inaccessibility,  on  account  of  the  elevation  that  also  made 
for  isolation,  probably  account  for  the  failure  of  peoples 
living  on  Tropical  Uplands  to  make  greater  progress  in 
the  past.  Tropical  Uplands  are,  however,  natural  regions 
of  great  promise  in  the  immediate  future  because  their  in- 
accessibility and  isolation  can  be  rendered  ineffective 
through  modern  improvements  in  transportation  methods. 
The  series  of  suggestions  in  the  preceding  paragraphs 
is  intended  to  be  indicative  only  of  the  historic  sequence  in 
which  the  establishment  of  national  consciousness,  as  re- 
lated to  regions  of  varying  physical  aspect,  has  occurred. 
The  argument  is  that  nations  are  primarily  and  funda- 
,  mentally  adjusted  to  place  and  that  national  culture  roots 
in  place.  This  does  not  mean  that  history  and  economics 
are  to  be  altogether  superseded  by  geography.  The  di- 
versity of  place  that  caused  Austria-Hungary  of  the 
immediate  past  to  fly  apart  could  well  have  been  of  minor 
importance  if  all  three  of  the  natural  regions  comprised 
in  the  former  empire  had  been  settled  originally  by  a 
uniform  group,  coached  for  its  future  development  by  an 
equal  degree  of  contact  with  peoples  further  along  in 
national  organization.  Again,  if  the  economic  develop- 
ment of  each  of  these  areas  had  been  equally  advanced,  or 
if  their  several  resources  were  complementary  and  the 
distinctive  products  of  each,  accordingly,  had  been  largely 
capable  of  absorption  within  the  coalition,  the  story  of 
Austria-Hungary  might  be  different. 

Geographers  have  been  at  fault  in  attempting  to  fix 
direct  and  simple  cause-and-effect  relationships  between 
place  and  particular  mental  and  physical  modifications  of 


THE  NATION  AOT>  THE  PLACE  83 

the  human  species ;  in  failing  to  recognize  the  importance 
of  origins,  historical  contacts  and  the  sequence  of  events 
as  partial  determinants  in  the  contemporaneous  occu- 
pancy of  the  world.  Historians  and  economists  on  the 
other  hand  have  been  rather  unctuous  in  practically  dis- 
missing from  consideration,  in  their  interpretations,  the 
influence  of  environment.  As  a  basis  and  background  of 
historic  and  economic  change  they  seem  to  recognize  ge- 
ography only  for  the  purpose  of  ignoring  its  function  as 
a  correlating  factor.  This  attitude  leaves  the  historical 
scholars  free  to  follow  up  the  interminable  and,  for  the 
most  part,  blind  gropings  of  the  human  leaders,  and  the 
effects  of  humanly  organized  institutions,  without  needing 
to  be  held  accountable  for  establishing  any  system  or  order 
in  the  series  of  changes  that  constitute  the  historic  record. 
And  this  despite  the  fact  that  there  is  quite  conclusive 
evidence  that  place  is  competent  to  modify  greatly  the 
mental  outlook,  habits,  and  perhaps  even  the  physical  con- 
stitution of  peoples,  in  a  surprisingly  short  time. 

The  completeness  of  reversal  in  human  characteristics 
that  may  be  brought  about  by  the  subjection  of  a  dis- 
tinctive cultural  group  to  environmental  conditions  quite 
the  opposite  of  those  under  which  the  group  had  originally 
developed  is  well  illustrated  by  the  case  of  the  Boers. 
Dutch  settlers  first  came  to  South  Africa  as  recently  as 
1602,  their  number  was  augmented  later  by  French 
Huguenots,  and  from  these  two  stocks,  almost  exclusively, 
the  Boer  people  have  been  derived.  In  their  ancestral 
homes  the  progenitors  of  the  Boers  were  enterprising 
urban  merchants,  farmers  accustomed  to  intensive  culti- 
vation of  plots  of  land  of  garden  size,  or  skilful  artisans ; 


84  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

peoples  who  were,  as  a  group,  gregarious  in  disposition  on 
account  of  the  close  contacts  of  a  densely  settled  country, 
and  among  whom  cleanliness  was  a  second  nature,  and 
who  were,  as  individuals,  deeply  appreciative  of  placid 
creature-comforts;  yet  within  a  few  generations  this  an- 
cestral type  has  been  completely  altered.  On  the  semi- 
arid  pastures  of  their  new  home  the  transplanted  Dutch 
developed  into  uncommunicative  lovers  of  solitude  with 
nomad  propensities.  They,  who  had  loved  appurtenances, 
reduced  household  impediments  to  a  minimum  in  antici- 
pation of  the  next  move  and  dispensed  with  all  notions 
of  cleanliness  in  a  land  where  water  is  available  in  quan- 
tity only  barely  sufficient  to  quench  the  thirst  of  man 
and  beast.  In  disposition,  habits,  and  in  all  phases  of 
the  life  they  lead,  the  Boers  are  the  very  antithesis  of  their 
ancestors  who  dwelt  on  the  moist  deltaic  lands  of  the 
Rhine  mouths.  And  it  would  be  difficult,  indeed,  to 
account  for  this  change  on  any  other  basis  than  that  it  is 
due  to  the  effects  of  their  new  environment. 

Among  ethnologists  head  form  has  come  to  be  considered 
the  most  permanent  of  racial  characteristics.  Yet  the 
investigations  of  Boas  indicate  that  even  head  form  under- 
goes a  very  rapid  change  when  subject  to  the  influences 
of  a  new  place.  The  immediateness  of  the  modification 
is  indeed  startling,  and  goes  beyond  anything  that  might 
have  been  postulated  by  a  geographer  in  his  most  imagina- 
tive moments.  It  was  found,  as  the  result  of  an  extended 
series  of  investigations,  that  the  first  child  born  in  America 
of  immigrant,  East  European,  Hebrew  parentage,  typi- 
cally round-headed  stock,  showed  a  marked  tendency  to 
long-headedness.     A  similar  modification  in  the  opposite 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  PLACE  85 

direction  was  discovered  in  the  first  American-born  off- 
spring of  south  Italian  parents;  that  is,  the  change  was 
from  stock  long-headedness  toward  round-headedness. 
The  longer  the  parents  have  been  in  America  the  more 
marked  does  the  change  in  head  form  of  the  offspring 
seem  to  be.  Wide-faced  Bohemians,  in  like  manner,  give 
birth  to  more  narrow-faced  individuals  than  the  parents, 
when  the  nativity  is  American,  though  children  of  the 
same  parents  born  abroad  do  not  show  this  variation  from 
the  parental  type.1 

Without,  then,  putting  too  much  emphasis  on  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  particular  case  of  the  Boers,  and  on  the 
change  of  head  form  in  the  children  of  immigrants;  re- 
garding these  instances  as  indicative  simply  of  the  potency 
of  environment  to  exert  modifying  influences;  it  would 
seem,  nevertheless,  a  conservative  enough  deduction,  in 
view  of  the  many  generations  that,  in  each  nation,  must 
have  been  subjected  to  particular  regional  conditions  and 
associations,  that  nationality  is  to  be  regarded  primarily 
as  a  reflection  of  place. 

1  Dr.  L.  A.  Hausman,  of  Cornell  University,  has  developed  a  new 
technique  for  the  microscopical  examination  of  mammalian  hair. 
It  may  be  that  through  his  work  and  his  criteria  it  will  be  possible 
in  the  future  to  come  at  a  more  basic  classification  of  human  races 
than  any  now  available.  He  finds,  for  example,  that  the  structure 
and  pigmentation  of  the  hair  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  (specimens 
from  mummies)  and  that  of  the  modern  Copts  is  identical.  (Per- 
sonal Communication.) 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE    NATION 

Individuals  manifest  their  possession  of  a  sense  of 
nationality  by  giving  expression,  in  one  way  or  another, 
to  their  patriotism  and  their  love  of  home.  Love  of  home 
is  readily  enough  understood  and  appreciated;  the  con- 
cept of  patriotism  is,  however,  quite  difficult  to  define. 
Possibly  Veblen  has  comprehended  everything  that  pa- 
triotism includes  in  the  concise  phrase:  "A  sense  of  par- 
tisan solidarity  in  respect  of  prestige,"  x  but  this  formula 
needs,  itself,  very  much  of  elucidation. 

It  was  suggested,  in  conversation,  by  a  university  pro- 
fessor that  if  a  number  of  "worldlings"  of  divers 
nationalities  were  to  find  themselves  transported  to  Mars, 
and  suddenly  confronted  by  a  crowd  of  Martians,  an 
"earth-born"  leader  would  at  once  come  to  the  front  and 
call  for  a  cheer  carrying  the  refrain :  World !  World ! 
World!  and  his  followers  would  give  it  with  enthusiasm 
and  vim.  The  cry  of  the  worldlings,  then,  would  echo 
both  their  partisan  solidarity  and  their  love  of  home, 
independent  of  nationality.  The  Martian  circumstances, 
in  other  words,  would  conduce  quite  adequately  to  the 
immediate  achievement  of  international  amity.  At  the 
crisis  of  the  World  War,  with  Mars  similarly  ascendant, 
complete  accord  in  their  relations  with  each  other  had 

*T.  Veblen,  "The  Nature  of  Peace,"  p.  31,  New  York,  1917. 

86 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION     87 

apparently  been  attained  by  a  large  group  of  nations,  but 
the  dissonance  since  has  become  quite  marked.  Partisan 
solidarity  is  evidently  compelled  by  some  fundamentally 
important  need. 

It  is  conceivable  that  partisan  solidarity,  if  long  enough 
enforced  by  some  great  need,  might  beget  patriotism,  and 
once  patriotism  had  been  acquired,  a  desire  to  maintain 
and  enhance  the  prestige  of  the  group  involved  would, 
naturally  enough,  follow.  But  partisan  solidarity,  pa- 
triotism, and  prestige  of  the  group  are  all  three  linked 
up  in  modern  thought  with  nationalism.  Here,  again, 
is  encountered  the  question  of  the  origin  and  basis  of  the 
national  group.  In  respect  of  what  the  persons  concerned 
are  partisans,  and  how,  and  why  the  group  for  which 
prestige  is  desired  delimits  itself,  is  not  immediately 
apparent. 

Racial  pride,  heritage  of  a  common  language  and  litera- 
ture, a  particular  religious  belief,  common  economic  in- 
terests, dynastic  loyalty,  each  may  indicate  well-defined 
cleavages  of  mankind,  as  a  whole,  into  groups.  The  par- 
tisan adherents  of  the  groups  made  distinguishable  by  any 
one  or  a  combination  of  these  traits  do  possess  a  sense  of 
solidarity  and  have  often  persuaded  themselves  that  their 
compelling  need  for  solidarity  resided  somehow  in  these 
attributes;  hence  strove  for  the  maintenance  and  enhance- 
ment of  the  prestige  of  the  aggregation  on  those  grounds. 
But  it  will  be  sensed  immediately  that  their  several  pro- 
motions were  not,  and  could  not,  be  manifestations  of 
patriotism.  Patriotism  is  a  quality  of  nationalism,  and 
nationality  does  not  originate  distinctively  in  race,  or 
language,  or  economic  interest,  or  dynastic  loyalty.    These 


88  INHERITING  THE  EAETH 

things  do  not  compel  solidarity,  though  many  men  have 
at  various  times  deceived  themselves  into  thinking  that 
they  did.  It  is  a  matter  for  congratulation  that  they  were 
in  error,  for  if  national  solidarity  originated,  for  example, 
solely  in  the  necessity  for  loyalty  to  a  dynasty,  or  for  main- 
taining and  enlarging  the  economic  interests  only  of  a 
national  group,  the  international  situation  would  be  even 
worse  than  it  is  or  has  been.  Certainly  no  world  harmony 
could  then  be  conceived  except  that  resulting  from  the 
possible  complete  domination  by  one  group,  for  the 
particularist  ambitions  of  the  opposed  communities  could 
not  be  reconciled  except  by  subjection  of  all  to  one.  Not 
nationalism,  imperialism,  rather,  has  its  roots  in  these 
things.1 

1Lord  Hugh  Cecil  in  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  London  Times, 
published  Monday,  Oct.  10,  1921,  and  captioned  "Nationalism,  'The 
Curse  of  Europe,' "  says  the  main  source  of  all  the  troubles  and 
mischiefs  which  the  peoples  of  Europe  are  now  enduring  is  this 
kind  of  nationalistic  spirit.  He  calls  it  an  embittering  and  desolat- 
ing sentiment.  The  two  Jubilees  of  Queen  Victoria  were  the  in- 
toxication of  British  nationalist  triumph,  and  sowed,  perhaps,  "the 
seeds  of  jealous  admiration  in  the  mind  of  William  II,  to  fructify 
terribly  in  1914."  He  adds  that  patriotism  has  become  the  con- 
venient cudgel  of  the  scoundrel  to  batter  critics  dumb.  He  calls 
on  the  Press  and  educators  generally  to  cry  down  this  sort  of 
nationalism. 

In  the  very  same  issue  of  the  Times  (the  antidote  must  be  ad- 
ministered before  the  poison  can  have  time  to  act!)  is  a  long  edi- 
torial pooh-poohing  Hugh  Cecil's  contentions  in  the  fashion  char- 
acteristic of  the  nationalistic  Press  the  world  over.  "But  we  cannot 
believe  that  anything  substantial  will  be  gained  by  decrying  an 
instinct  which,  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  has  only  just  won  the 
opportunity  to  express  itself.  Upon  it,  and  not  upon  its  negation, 
the  future  must  be  constructed."  Not  a  word  in  favour  of  the 
different  type  of  nationalism  that  Hugh   Cecil  urges.     And  if  this 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION      89 

The  mental  reaction  imputed  to  the  group  of  divers 
nationalists  transposed  to  Mars  has  happier  connotations. 
It  implies  that  in  the  end  partisan  solidarity  of  the  na- 
tional type  may  he  referred  hack  to  place.  Whether  or 
not  this  implication  is  accepted  as  a  correct  interpretation 
of  the  basis  of  nationality,  it  would  probably  be  admitted 
generally  that  if  patriotism  does  originate  in  place, 
patriotism  may  be  fostered  and  intensified  without  fear 
of  initiating  a  series  of  sinister  developments;  as  would 
almost  certainly  be  the  case  if  the  factors  that  really  pro- 
mote imperialism  were,  instead,  at  the  root  of  nationalism, 
and  of  the  patriotism  that  nationalism  engenders.  If, 
further,  the  idea,  that  patriotism  is  the  expression  of 
enthusiasm  for  nationality  founded  on  place  can  be  pro- 
mulgated widely,  progress  in  the  direction  of  world  con- 
cord will  be  greatly  facilitated. 

The  advance  of  civilization  can  be  materially  hampered 
through  the  disaster  of  war  only  as  disputes  arise  between 
organized  nations  possessing  modern  industrial  equipment. 
If  not  compelled  to  desist  by  the  threats  of  a  similarly 
equipped  competitor,  or  competitors,  any  one  of  the  na- 
tions in  which  machine  industry  and  modem  technology 
are  fully  utilized  can  coerce  a  backward  people.  A  bar- 
barian horde,  on  the  other  hand,  however  numerous  it 
might  be,  could  not,  in  these  days,  overwhelm,  in  armed 
conflict,  even  the  weakest  of  the  industrially  organized 

were  not  enough  to  counteract  the  virus,  another  editorial  follows 
immediately,  entitled  "In  Memory  of  Ypres,"  commending  Lord 
French's  appeal  for  the  organization  of  a  Ypres  League,  lauding 
British  valour,  and  with  reference,  in  quotation  marks,  to  the  "con- 
temptible little  army."  Verily,  the  chauvinistic  idea  of  nationalism 
will  die  hard  and  the  Press  will  do  most  and  longest  to  keep  it  alive ! 


90  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

groups.  Only  in  recent  times,  however,  have  these  rela- 
tions obtained.  When  Rome  fought  the  barbarians,  and 
in  the  ancient  wars  of  empire,  the  opposing  forces  were 
substantially  on  a  par  with  each  other  as  to  armament. 
Victories,  then,  were  won  either  because  of  superiority  in 
numbers,  greater  military  skill,  or  better  organization. 
In  modern  times  superiority  in  material  equipment  and 
technology  is  much  more  portentous  than  greater  numbers 
in  waging  war,  and  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  any 
backward  group  would  excel  in  organization  or  in  military 
skill.  Accordingly  it  may  be  assumed  that  civilization 
today  can  not  be  destroyed  from  without. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  curiously  true  that  armed  con- 
flict between  the  industrially  advanced  nations  can  develop 
out  of  contentions  which  originate  in  false  conceptions  of 
the  basis  of  nationality  and  the  occasion  for  patriotism. 
Much  group  action  is  still  motivated  by  historic,  perhaps 
even  instinctive,  human  obsessions,  constituted  of  mis- 
interpreted or,  in  any  event,  obsolete  loyalties.  These 
things  comprise  misunderstandings  of  the  present  order, 
are  unreasoning  reactions  that  result  from  the  persistence 
of  the  conviction  that  outworn,  but  at  one  time  service- 
able, relationships  still  retain  their  effectiveness  and  re- 
quire to  be  preserved.  The  individual  believes,  or  is 
led  to  believe,  that  his  self-interest  and  that  of  his  inti- 
mates continues  to  be  served  by  these  relationships  and 
that  these  constitute  the  bond  of  nationality. 

More  deeply  ingrained  than  any  other,  and  fundamental 
to  all  the  rest  of  these  blemishes,  as  they  must  now  be 
considered,  is  the  instinct  for  solidarity  that  animated  the 
primitive  herd.    It  was  probably  only  as  he  organized  into 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION      91 

a  tribe  or  horde  that  primitive  man  survived.  In  the 
realization  by  men,  in  early  times,  of  the  necessity  for 
group  solidarity  in  the  actual  business  of  securing  a  live- 
lihood and  in  providing  a  defence  against  aggression,  the 
patriotic  animus  had  its  origins.  Physical  fitness  then 
was  the  prime  virtue;  the  survival,  success,  and  prestige 
of  the  group  depended  solely  on  the  degree  of  physical 
competence  possessed  by  its  individual  members.  The 
fact  that  athletic  feats,  even  now,  win  more  enthusiastic 
applause  than  does  intellectual  achievement  (though  at 
the  same  time  settlement  of  differences  between  indi- 
viduals by  violence  is  deplored  and  repressed)  suggests 
how  deeply  the  concept  of  physical  prowess  as  an  admir- 
able trait  became  ingrained,  and  how  long  continued  must 
have  been  its  need. 

The  normal  condition  of  the  wandering  tribe  is  that  of 
very  slight  margin  of  procurement  or  production  of  food 
over  subsistence,  and  no  means  for  preservation  of  a  sur- 
plus, when  occasionally  an  oversupply  may  be  available. 
Unusual  success  in  the  hunt  merely  spells  an  opportunity 
for  the  group  to  indulge  in  a  gorge.  The  change  to  seden- 
tary existence  accompanying  the  development  of  agricul- 
ture, involving  as  it  does  the  permanent  occupation  of  one 
place,  makes  accumulation  of  property  possible;  the  mar- 
gin of  production  over  subsistence  grows  wider,  and  owner- 
ship of  property  by  the  individual  becomes  feasible.  The 
solidarity  of  the  group  then  needs  to  be  maintained  as  a 
defence  against  aggression  by  rival  communities,  but,  as 
related  to  competition  within  the  group,  the  greater  capa- 
bility of  the  individual  no  longer  serves  the  group  interest, 
and,  from  the  stage  of  attainment  of  dependence  on  agri- 


92  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

culture  onward,  has  never  done  so,  except  in  the  case  of 
those  few  persons  who  have  devoted  their  energies  in  vari- 
ous ages  to  altruistic  labours.  (Here  it  should  be  empha- 
sized that  innate  difference  in  ability  among  human  indi- 
viduals must  be  recognized  and  accepted,  else  the  threat 
to  civilization  of  international  violence  may  be  eliminated 
only  to  disclose  in  its  stead  danger  of  internal  upheavals, 
brought  about  by  class  strife.  On  the  rock  of  inequality 
of  human  capacity  all  socialistic  and  communistic  schemes 
of  society  must  inevitably  break.  Equality  of  opportunity 
at  birth,  or  even  up  to  the  beginning  of  mature  life,  may 
some  day  be  achieved,  but  after  that  the  individual  must 
be  left  free  to  develop  his  own  fortunes  in  competition 
with  his  generation.  It  may  even  be  possible  to  restrain 
the  competent  individuals  from  combining,  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  the  less  capable  majority;  but  as  for  this 
majority  combining  to  make  ineffective  the  superior  en- 
dowments of  the  few,  that  can  only  result  in  general 
deterioration,  in  failure  of  all  human  advancement. ) 

The  herd  animus,  true  patriotism  in  the  primitive  com- 
munal life  of  the  hunter  tribe,  and  retained  as  a  service- 
able trait  in  the  interests  of  group  defence,  has  also,  how- 
ever, in  every  stage  of  advance  in  civilization,  since  the 
first  establishment  of  the  agricultural  settlement,  been 
utilized  for  a  great  variety  of  other  ends ;  but  invariably, 
it  would  seem,  to  the  disadvantage  of  human  welfare  as  a 
whole  and  often  indeed  to  the  discomfiture  of  the  group, 
and,  if  not  that,  at  least  only  to  serve  the  interests  of  a 
particular  class  in  the  group,  altogether  disproportionately 
to  the  degree  in  which  it  was  of  benefit  to  the  majority. 

A  sufficient  defence  very  easily  develops  into  power  for 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION      93 

offence  and  aggression.  No  sooner  has  a  group  found 
itself  securely  seated  in  its  own  domain  but  that,  a  will  to 
conquest  has  made  itself  manifest.  So  long  as  the  slave 
status  was  considered  a  natural  condition  of  mankind,  the 
normal  fate  of  at  least  part  of  any  group  that  had  been 
conquered,  war  may  have  been  profitable  to  the  victorious 
people  as  a  whole;  they  got  slaves  to  perform  their  labo- 
rious toil.  Private  property  under  those  circumstances 
was,  of  course,  also  appropriated  as  the  conquerors  saw 
fit.  The  Romans  managed  this  sort  of  thing  on  the  grand- 
est scale,  and  perhaps  most  successfully.  The  city  of 
Rome  was  a  centre  toward  which  all  the  wealth  of  the 
world  was  drawn.  The  proletariat  at  Rome  got  food  and 
games,  the  leaders,  vast  estates  and  slaves  by  thousands. 
There  was  no  reverse  current  of  goods.  From  Rome  went 
out  only  government;  peace,  order,  security.  But  their 
complete  subversion  of  productive  activity  to  a  slave  estate 
contributed  to  the  undoing  of  the  Romans ;  it  consumed  the 
material  world  they  ruled  and  at  the  same  time  sapped 
Roman  virtue. 

The  Romans  had  no  hesitation  in  enslaving  peoples 
substantially  their  equals  in  culture,  and  it  required  a 
moral  revolt,  extending  through  all  the  eighteenth  and 
nineteenth  centuries,  to  put  enslavement  of  backward  peo- 
ples, as  an  institution,  completely  under  the  ban  by  West- 
ern civilization.  Hence  slavery  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an 
institution  of  the  so  remote  past  in  the  history  of  mankind 
as  to  be  incapable  of  revival.  In  fact  the  policy  of  the 
Germans  in  their  colonies  and  their  systematic  looting 
of  Belgium  had  much  to  do  with  the  world-wide  resistance 
their  onset  aroused;  for  it  could  readily  be  believed  that, 


94  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

victorious,  the  Germans  would  attempt  to  dominate  the 
world  after  the  manner  of  the  Romans.  But  even  the 
Germans  would  probably  have  appreciated  the  ultimate 
futility  of  so  thoroughgoing  subjugation  as  was  the  custom 
of  the  Romans,  if  indeed  that  could  ever  have  been  brought 
about  under  modern  conditions.  At  worst  the  German 
management  would  have  been  in  the  nature  of  exploiting 
the  world  as  an  estate,  governing,  levying  tribute  and 
taxes,  and  regulating  commerce  and  trade  in  their  own 
interest.  Under  that  kind  of  regime  the  complex  mech- 
anism of  modem  world  production  and  exchange  must 
inevitably  have  been  rendered  progressively  less  and  less 
efficient,  and  at  a  far  more  rapid  rate  than  would  have 
resulted  from  its  application  in  Roman  times.  It  may 
be  doubted  whether  complete  subjugation  of  an  indus- 
trially organized  people  would  be  possible  without  destroy- 
ing its  productive  capacity.  Accordingly,  domination 
could  not.  be  made  to  pay  its  cost,  let  alone  any  possibility 
of  its  enriching  the  whole  group  of  the  conquerors.  The 
plight  of  the  Allies  in  endeavouring  to  collect  reparations, 
only,  from  defeated  Germany  makes  sufficiently  clear  how 
impossible  any  profit  from  conquest  would  be. 

It  does  appear,  however,  that  the  herd  animus,  the 
primitive  patriotism  that  still  makes  itself  manifest  in 
the  willingness  of  the  individual  to  engage  in  physical 
combat  for  the  sake  of  the  group,  and  has  been  inherited 
in  this  phase  from  the  tribal  stage,  is  still  a  serviceable 
trait.  Its  disserviceability  is  not  inherent,  but  is  owing 
to  the  fact  that  this  trait  has  supplied  an  easy  means,  long 
utilized  by  unscrupulous  protocracies,1  to  gain  their  selfish 

'A  word  used  by  F.  H.  Giddings  in  his  book,  "The  Responsible 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION      95 

ends.  The  situation  is  paradoxical.  Primitive  patriotism 
is  a  national  virtue  because  there  must  be  group  defence 
against  enemy  invasion.  But  armed  aggression  is  only 
possible  for  groups  maintaining  organized  forces.  Yet 
conquest,  except  it  is  carried  out  to  the  extent  of  enslave- 
ment of  subjugated  peoples,  can  not  result  in  any  imme- 
diate, not  to  say  permanent,  advantage  of  the  mass  of  the 
population  comprising  the  conquering  group.  But  armed 
aggression  would  not  persist  as  a  disturber  of  world  peace 
except  as  some  interest  is  served,  and,  as  long  as  that  is 
true,  such  interest  will  be  tempted  to  use  force  to  gain 
its  ends.  Therefore,  not  being  "too  proud  to  fight"  is  still 
a  serviceable  instinct,  because  it  provides  for  resistance 
to  aggression  by  an  alien  group,  instigated  by  interests  in 
that  group  which  will  gain  by  success  in  the  enterprise 
of  conquest.1 

The  interests  which  can  use  a  serviceable  patriotism 
for  purposes  that  are  its  own  undoing  must  be  of  a  domi- 
nant kind,  hence  dynastic  or  capitalistic.  How  effectively 
the  herd  instinct  for  union  in  amied  defence  can  be 
utilized  to  further  dynastic  ambitions  is  remarkably  illus- 
trated in  the  case  of  Germany.  The  circumstances  of  the 
upbuilding  of  the  German  Army,  and  the  ultimate 
State"  (Boston,  1918),  to  designate  "our  leading  citizens"  of  all 
times. 

1  China,  lacking  men  and  guns  to  enforce  her  demands,  was  com- 
pelled to  submit  at  the  Disarmament  Conference  (!) ,  Jan.  5,  1922, 
to  tariff  conditions  fixed  by  other  nations.  She  asked  for  a  12.5 
per  cent  import  duty,  for  revenue  purposes;  the  nations  assembled 
to  promote  international  peace  would  grant  no  more  than  the  5 
per  cent  in  force  before  the  conference  met.  But  the  other  nations 
charge  from  30  to  50  per  cent  duties  on  Chinese  goods  that  enter 
their  countries. 


9G  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

attempt  to  use  it  to  achieve  domination  of  the  world  in  the 
interest  of  the  Prussian  protocracy,  have  been  set  forth 
concisely  by  Nicolai,  and  the  recital  deserves  more  atten- 
tion than  it  seems  to  have  received  in  discussions  of  the 
war.  JSTicolai  *  points  out,  first  of  all,  that  national  armies 
are  superior  to  professional  soldiers.  In  proof  he  cites  a 
long  list  of  examples  throughout  the  course  of  history,  thus 
the  success  of  the  Theban  militia  at  Leuktra  in  371  b.c.  ; 
of  the  citizen  defenders  of  Orleans,  of  the  American  militia 
at  Saratoga.  Not  that  the  professional  soldier  is  less 
competent;  the  difference  is  in  the  spirit  that  animates  the 
army.  The  actual  business  of  being  a  soldier,  even  an 
officer,  is  quickly  taught,  Nicolai  argues;  as  has  been, 
indeed,  amply  demonstrated  during  the  late  war.  But  it 
has  also  long  been  realized  that  a  true  militia  is  only 
suitable  for  defensive  warfare.  Hence  it  was  that  armies 
of  professional  soldiers,  recruited  by  choice  from  beyond 
the  borders  of  a  country,  were  in  the  past  preferred  by 
rulers  generally.  This  was  particularly  true  in  Prussia. 
Frederick  William  I's  army  was  small  and  consisted 
wholly  of  mercenaries.  He  enforced,  also,  a  very  strict 
distinction  between  officers  and  common  soldiers;  the  latter 
were  to  be  recruited  only  from  among  foreigners  and  the 
dregs  of  his  own  people.  For  the  common  soldiers 
Frederick  William  I  had  a  profound  contempt,  and  he 
discouraged  all  idea  of  a  militia.  The  people  of  Prussia 
were  led  to  acquiesce  in  the  maintenance  of  a  purely  pro- 
fessional army  (which  could  be  used  for  any  purpose 
that  Frederick  saw  fit,  as  opposed  to  a  home-recruited 

1G.  F.  Nicolai,  "The  Biology  of  War,"  pp.  214-249,  New  York, 
1918. 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION      97 

army  that  might  prove  dangerous  on  occasion)  by  being 
made  to  share  the  ruler's  contempt  for  the  common  soldier. 
Very  few  of  the  people  could  hope  to  be  officers;  to  be  a 
common  soldier  was  disgraceful.  It  is  the  more  remark- 
able, therefore,  that  the  same  dynasty,  while  managing 
to  maintain  the  sharp  distinction  between  officer  and 
soldier  down  to  the  fateful  year  1914  (it  has  been  impos- 
sible for  a  Prussian  soldier  since  Frederick's  time  to 
become  an  officer)  was  yet  able  to  develop  a  national  army 
with  national  patriotism,  made  up  of  such  common 
soldiers. 

The  first  step  in  bringing  about  the  necessary  change 
in  the  attitude  of  the  public  was  accomplished  in  1813. 
There  was  then  need  of  greatly  increased  forces  for  the 
defence  of  the  country,  and  a  militia,  based  on  universal 
liability  to  serve,  was  organized.  The  military  authori- 
ties, however,  were  to  have  a  voice  in  the  appointment  of 
officers.  It  was  understood,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the 
men  were  not  to  be  called  up  until  the  enemy  was  actually 
advancing  over  the  frontier  and  even  the  militia  units 
were,  in  each  case,  to  be  employed  only  in  their  home 
provinces.  But  the  king  and  his  military  advisers  very 
shortly  contrived  to  circumvent  this  purely  defensive 
purpose  of  the  militia  by  issuing  new  regulations  in  which 
it  was  set  forth  that  the  militia  might  be  employed  "out- 
side their  own  district."  This  change  was  accepted 
readily  enough,  because  it  was  popularly  interpreted  to 
mean  only  that,  a  company  could  be  used  anywhere  in  its 
own  native  province;  but,  as  was  afterwards  made  clear, 
France  and  the  rest  of  the  world  are  outside  a  particular 
district  as  well  as  are  other  parts  of  a  province !     It  was 


98  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

also  decreed  that  the  militia  was  subject  to  the  discipline 
of  the  standing  army,  making  farcical  the  election  of 
officers  by  the  soldiers.  Hence  it  is  not  surprising  to  learn 
that  when  Bliicher  crossed  the  Rhine  on  January  1,  1814, 
there  were  seven  thousand  militiamen  in  his  first  army 
corps. 

Once  the  government  realized  that  the  militia  could  be 
utilized  to  increase  the  army  proper,  the  next  business  was 
to  get  rid  of  the  idea  that  the  militia  had  been  created 
simply  as  a  war  expedient.  It  was  intimated,  therefore, 
that  the  nation  desired  the  preservation  of  the  militia 
institution,  and  a  new  law  was  promulgated  disbanding  the 
militia  in  time  of  peace,  indeed,  but  retaining  the  prin- 
ciple of  compulsory  service  and  the  added  frank  declara- 
tion that  the  first  line  militia  troops  might  be  employed 
abroad.  Reservists  from  the  regular  army  were,  more- 
over, consigned  to  the  militia,  thus  linking  up  the  two 
institutions;  and  their  uniforms  were  also  made  similar. 

Accordingly,  when  Napoleon  was,  for  a  second  time,  on 
the  throne  of  France,  the  militia  was  immediately  called 
up  and  sent  abroad.  After  that  campaign  the  militia  was 
not  even  entirely  disbanded;  the  staff  officers  and  about 
fifty  men  from  each  regiment  were  retained  in  service. 
This  number  was  gradually  increased  with  the  years. 
When,  after  a  period,  this  system  caused  the  militia  to 
become  conspicuously  large,  its  number  was  reduced  and 
the  discharged  militia  soldiers  were  assimilated  into  the 
regular  army.  After  the  public  had  become  accustomed 
to  any  one  such  change,  the  militia,  in  turn,  was  again 
built  up.  A  particular  device  in  this  connection  was  to 
create  new  militia  regiments  without  increasing  for  the 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION      99 

moment  the  actual  number  of  troops  in  service.  Thus 
three  regiments,  made  up  of  four  battalions  each,  would 
be  converted  into  four  regiments  of  three  battalions  each. 
Then,  after  a  time,  these  small  regiments  would  be  de- 
clared unsuitable  for  active  service  and  men  called  up  to 
fill  out.  the  missing  battalions.  By  such  mancEuvring  the 
Prussian  Government,  as  early  as  1821,  could  muster 
some  362,000  troops,  most  of  which  could  be  used  for 
offensive  service.  After  the  1850  mobilization  a  further 
large  increase  in  the  standing  army  was  made  by  recourse 
to  the  militia  supply,  another  similarly  in  1871,  and  still 
another  after  1871.  The  system  by  1914  had  finally  been 
so  far  developed  as  to  permit  of  the  use  of  last  line  troops, 
so-called,  in  attacking  the  enemy  abroad. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  transition  from  a  "con- 
temptible" army  to  a  national  army  was  very  adroitly 
managed.  Beginning  with  a  mercenary  standing  army 
made  up  of  common  soldiers,  despised  alike  by  rulers  and 
people,  there  followed  next  a  citizens'  militia  organized 
for  defence  of  its  native  soil,  hence  commanding  the  re- 
spect of  the  populace.  When  this  militia  organization  had 
been  shrewdly  linked  and  merged  into  the  standing  army 
the  time  was  ripe  for  the  development  of  a  huge  national 
army.  Once  this  had  been  established  it  was  relatively 
easy  to  carry  on  the  progressive  enlargement  of  the  army 
as  a  national  institution  and  to  promote  its  prestige  among 
the  populace.  Thus,  eventually,  the  ultimate  German 
military  machine  was  created  in  monstrous  efficiency — 
as  military  machines  go. 

The  nationalistic  militarism  of  Prussia  and  Germany 
in  the  service  of  a  dynastic   interest  is  admittedly   an 


100  INHERITING  THE  EAETH 

extreme  case,  but  only,  therefore,  the  more  significant  in 
that  it  illustrates  the  degree  to  which  the  primitive  pa- 
triotic instinct  may  be  perverted.  If  in  the  end  the 
patriots  frankly  avowed  their  purpose  to  expand  by  force, 
it  was  also  true  that  it  had  only  been  possible  to  build  up 
the  means  for  aggression  by  resort  to  the  specious  plea  of 
defensive  needs.  It  is  also  worth  noting  how  easily  the 
military  organization,  once  created,  developed  an  alien 
loyalty,  that  to  the  master  it  served,  in  distinction  from 
the  true  loyalty  it  owed  to  the  people  and  place  that  com- 
prised the  nation.  In  other  words  it  learned  to  serve  the 
state,  or  the  special  interests  that  were  dominant  in  the 
government.  Thus,  as  early  as  1848,  it  was  perfectly 
feasible  to  use  the  German  militiamen  against  their  own 
fellow-citizens,  so  effectively  indeed,  that  it  was  hardly 
necessary  to  resort  to  the  expedient  of  using  troops  from 
remote  districts  to  quell  local  revolts  in  bloody  fashion.1 
Nor  is  this  diseased  patriotism  or,  better,  state  national- 
ism confined  to  armies  only.  It  infects  practically  all 
national  thinking  and  is  the  occasion  for  the  appraisal  of 
the  patriotic  animus  as  a  disserviceable  trait  in  modern 
civilization.  Due  to  such  perversion  the  average  citizen 
acquires,  or  is  habituated  to,  the  idea  that  his  warlike 
patriotic  impulses  should  be  stirred  by  a  variety  of  other 
considerations  than  that  of  the  actual  defence  of  the  home 
on  which  it  rests,  from  which  it  sprung,  and  which  it 
truly  serves.  In  the  monarchical  states  these  considera- 
tions '  come  almost  wholly  within  the  sphere  of  the  en- 
hancement of  dynastic  prestige  and  the  imperialism  in 
which,  almost  solely,  that  prestige  can  hope  to  find  scope 

1  Nicolai,  op.  cit.,  pp.  244-245. 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION     101 

for  enhancement.  This  is  putting  it  a  bit  narrowly,  but 
it  comes  to  the  same  thing  in  the  end  if  more  broadly 
viewed. 

As  has  been  suggested  earlier,  short  of  actual  enslave- 
ment of  the  subjugated  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any 
enterprise  of  conquest  and  expansion  by  force  is  of  any 
material  advantage  to  the  average  citizen  of  the  conquer- 
ing nation ;  that  is,  even  if  it  is  admitted  that  the  possible 
gain  is  only  for  those  who  survive  the  conflict.     If  that  is 
the  case  it  follows  that  territory,  however  acquired,   if 
administered   more   liberally   than    a    plantation    colony, 
must  of  necessity  cost  more  to  govern  than  it  returns  in 
revenue.    This  does  not  mean  that  individuals  from  among 
the  ruling  nationality  do  not  profit,  for  they  do.     The 
India  Service  provides  a  multitude  of  posts  for  the  sons 
of  the  nobility,  the  gentleman-investor  class  of  England, 
to  say  nothing  of  minor  positions  that  lesser  lights  may 
secure.      Something    of    the    same    kind    applies    to   the 
American  occupation  of  the  Philippines.     Trade  interests 
are  similarly  affected.    In  some  measure  trade  does  follow 
the  flag  and  exceptional  business  opportunities  are  afforded 
to  individuals.     But  the  sum  of  gains  obtained  by  these 
persons  is  usually  altogether  disproportionate  to  the  great 
total  which  the  nation  as  a  whole  pays  for  upkeep  of  the 
governmental    agencies    needed    to    safeguard    the    busi- 
ness enterprises,  to  say  nothing  of  the  cost  in  blood  and 
lives  if,  incidentally,  war  results  from  efforts  to  expand 
territorial  trade.     As  Veblen  x  puts  it :  "India  is  wanted 
and  held,  not  for  tribute  or  revenue  to  be  paid  into  the 
Imperial  treasury,  nor  even  for  exclusive  trade  privileges 

1T.  Veblen,  "The  Nature  of  Peace,"  p.   125,  New  York,   1917. 


102  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

or  preferences,  but  mainly  as  a  preserve  to  provide  official 
occupation  and  emoluments  for  British  gentlemen  not 
otherwise  occupied  or  provided"  for;  and  secondarily  as 
a  means  of  safeguarding  lucrative  British  investments; 
that  is  to  say,  investments  by  British  capitalists  of  high 
and  low  degree."  That  is  not  the  whole  story  but  is  a 
significant  part. 

In  the  monarchical  states,  the  dynastic  interests,  in 
the  democratic  states,  the  capitalistic  interests,  accord- 
ingly, may  profit  directly  by  territorial  expansion,  but 
this  only  at  a  net  loss  to  the  larger  group  of  which  they 
are  a  part.  It  should  be  sufficiently  evident  to  the  common 
man  that  this  is  the  case.  Nevertheless  he  allows  his 
primitively  acquired  patriotic  instincts  to  be  exploited 
in  furtherance  of  such  projects,  and  to  his  own  detri- 
ment.    Why  is  this  so? 

Primarily  because  man  is  so  constituted  that  he  tends 
to  arrogate  to  himself,  although  his  is  only  a  vicarious 
part,  some  modicum  of  psychic  income  as  a  by-product 
dividend  resulting  from  national  enterprise.  In  effect 
this  psychic  income  is  scarcely  more  than  an  unsubstan- 
tial reflection  of  the  material  gains  enjoyed  at  his  cost 
by  the  privileged  classes.  But  the  common  man  finds 
occasion  for  personal  complacency  in  the  size  of  the  em- 
pire, the  splendour  of  its  court,  the  number  of  ships  in 
the  navy,  the  volume  of  trade,  in  everything  that  may  be 
made  the  subject  of  disparaging  comparison  with  some 
other  people.  If  his  country  is  small  he  finds  consola- 
tion, perhaps,  in  its  glorious  past  or  in  its  distinctive 
culture.  It  is  this  sort  of  patriotism  that  makes  him 
jealous  of  the  "national  honour."     If  his  fellow-citizens, 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION    103 

travellers  or  traders  in  foreign  parts,  are  given  slight 
consideration;  if  their  property  is  misappropriated  or 
the  national  emblem  is  treated  with  disrespect,  the  com- 
mon man  will  be  aggrieved  and  resentful,  for  these  are 
occurrences  that  do  injury  to  national  honour.  It  may 
indeed  be  necessary  to  call  especial  attention  to  the  hurt 
and  even  to  explain  it  and  enlarge  upon  it  through  news- 
paper propaganda,  but  the  average  citizen  will  be  suffi- 
ciently sensible  that  he  is  personally  concerned  once  he 
understands  that  there  has  been  such  an  affront.  Then 
he  will  demand  that  the  offending  people  make  amends 
through  their  official  representatives,  specifically  that  they 
yield  to  the  superior  prestige  of  his  nation  by  making 
ceremonial  acknowledgment  of  the  fault  and  apology 
for  the  misguided  hardihood  that  made  possible  its  com- 
mission. He  wants  a  backdown  on  the  part  of  the 
offender,  and  failing  to  get  this  is  willing  that  the  matter 
should  be  made  an  occasion  for  war. 

All  this  could  be  elucidated  in  greater  detail,  but  will 
be  well  enough  understood  from  what  has  been  said.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  the  desire 
of  the  average  citizen  for  the  vindication  of  the  national 
honour  rests  wholly  on  impersonal  considerations.  He 
hopes,  dimly,  perhaps,  yet  hopes,  that  he  may  some  time 
be  advantaged  by  the  national  prestige.  Thus,  if  he  should 
have  occasion  to  travel  abroad,  he  feels  that  its  undimmed 
lustre  may  get  for  him  consideration  and  privilege  denied 
to  other  nationals.  Upholding  the  national  prestige  is,  in 
this  connection,  something  akin  to  giving  tips,  in  that  it 
is  paying  for  a  preferential  service  seldom  received.  Or 
territorial  expansion  may  suggest  to  the  common  man  the 


104  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

possibility  of  appointment  to  an  official  post.  The  profit- 
seeking  activities  of  traders  operating  in  foreign  parts 
under  national  protection  may  be  interpreted  by  him  only 
as  enterprises  offering  possibilities  of  jobs  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  other  nationals.  And  some  few  of  his  number 
may  realize  opportunities  of  these  several  sorts  but  not 
in  enough  cases  to  make  it  at  all  worth  the  common  man's 
while  to  prostitute  his  patriotism  for  so  remote  ends. 

Manifestations  of  the  aggressive  phase  of  patriotic 
origins  are  specious,  and  must  be  found  fault  with  because 
they  no  longer  serve  the  general  good.  Advancement  of 
civilization  requires  that  the  aggressive  survival  in 
patriotism  be  suppressed.  That  proposals  for  concurrent 
disarmament  are  received  with  approval  by  peoples  who 
were  formerly  only  concerned  in  how  far  theirs  could  be 
made  a  superior  martial  equipment  is  eloquent  of  a  great 
change  in  prevailing  opinion,  and  one  that  is  to  be  en- 
couraged. But  it  should  not  be  overlooked  that  under 
modern  conditions  manifestations  of  the  aggressive  ele- 
ment in  patriotic  origins  are  to  be  regarded  merely  as  a 
fungal  outgrowth,  fostered  by  the  few  for  their  selfish 
ends,  on  the  sturdy  trunk  of  a  serviceable,  defensive 
patriotism  which  is  rooted  in  the  soil. 

Once  the  agricultural  status  has  been  attained  and  a 
human  group  has  found  the  basic  element  of  its  cohesion 
to  consist  in  its  having  established  and  being  desirous 
of  maintaining  a  permanent  habitat,  the  most  urgent  de- 
mand that  is  put  upon  the  patriotism  of  the  members  of 
the  group  is  that  they  shall  be  willing  to  co-operate  for 
the  common  defence.  There  is,  however,  this  difference 
between  the  defensive  patriotism  of  the  hunter-tribe  group 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION    105 

and  that  of  the  group  united  by  agricultural  occupation  of 
a  given  region ;  the  hunting  tribe  strives  only  to  defend  its 
members  from  harm,  the  agriculturists  seek  further  to 
protect  their  lands  and  their  homes  from  being  wasted 
by  an  alien  group.  National  patriotism,  therefore,  is 
ultimately  an  expression  of  neighbourliness,  and  as  such 
is  capable  of  development  along  other  lines  than  those  of 
defence.  So  conceived  patriotism  is  free  of  any  invidious 
element,  hence  is  indefinitely  extensible  with  regard  to 
territorial  spread,  and  is  conducive  to  amity  as  between 
different  peoples  occupying  adjacent  regions.  Place  pa- 
triotism founded  on  the  defensive  element  in  the  original 
patriotic  instinct  is  capable  of  preserving  local  peculiari- 
ties of  culture,  of  use  and  of  wont,  yet  can  view  with 
tolerance  the  dissimilar  habits  and  customs  of  other  folk 
differently  situated. 

The  degree  in  which  modern,  national  patriotism  rests 
on  the  neighbourly  relation  is  not  immediately  appre- 
ciated. In  any  given  community  there  is  a  sense  of  asso- 
ciation and  of  co-ordinated  interests  that  arises  from  mere 
physical  juxtaposition.  This  neighbourliness  is,  there- 
fore, altogether  a  place  phenomenon.  The  mutual  ani- 
mosity which  marks  the  normal  relations  of  savage  and 
even  barbarous  tribes  may,  on  the  other  hand,  be  ascribed 
in  large  part  to  the  complete  lack  of  any  neighbourly 
contact  between  such  groups.  That  modern  nations  are 
less  unfriendly  and  that  so  much  larger  groups,  numeri- 
cally and  in  extent  of  territory  occupied,  now  exist  as 
nationally  organized  units  is  an  expression  of  the  increas- 
ing frequency  and  variety  of  human  contacts  that  modern 
facilities    of    transportation    and   communication    afford. 


106  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Except  for  political  agitation  it  may  indeed  be  doubted 
whether  even  international  animosities  would  long  survive. 
Certainly  near-adjacent  communities,  living  on  opposite 
sides  of  an  artificially  marked,  international  boundary 
line,  do  not  cherish  any  special  hostility  for  each  other, 
except  as  this  is  fomented  by  authoritative  pronouncement 
and  the  irritations  that  the  ungeographical  boundary 
demarcation  itself  occasions,  in  that  it  introduces  a  variety 
of  difficulties  to  the  human  and  commercial  intercourse 
that,  nevertheless,  extends  across  the  line. 

Since  patriotism  ultimately  resides  in  the  individual  it 
will  serve  to  fix  attention  upon  any  one  resident  in  a 
community  and  to  consider  his  relations  with  his  neigh- 
bours in  order  to  note  how  these  are  the  source  of  national 
solidarity.  No  matter  whether  this  man  is  found  in  the 
city,  in  a  country  village,  or  on  the  farm  he  will  have 
certain  interests  in  common  with  those  who  adjoin  him 
in  residence.  As  suits  the  place  it  may  be  the  janitorial 
service  of  an  apartment,  the  matter  of  street-paving,  the 
volunteer  fire  department  or  the  drainage  of  a  tract  of 
lowland,  that  makes  neighbourly  co-operation  essential, 
and  thereby  establishes  a  contact  which  involves  joint 
effort  in  promotion  of  the  general  well-being.  While  the 
nature  of  the  neighbourhood  problems  will  vary  with  the 
place  and  the  time,  the  general  result  in  each  event  is 
that  those  whom  these  problems  bring  into  contact  must 
have  an  interest  in  each  other's  welfare.  Thus  there  de- 
velops a  neighbourhood  loyalty,  discerning  any  possible 
detriment  that  may  come  to  the  locality  through  the 
manoeuvres  of  outsiders,  and  quick  to  take  measures  to 
stop  such  attempts.     If  this  loyalty  does  not   stimulate 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION"    107 

constructive  action  in  like  degree  to  that  with  which  it 
brings  about  united  protest  against  any  harmful  project 
it  is  in  this  respect  only  analogous  to  national  patriotism. 
The  co-operating  neighbours  are  the  modern  representa- 
tives of  the  restricted  primitive  tribal  unit  which  fought 
to  defend  the  group  from  aggression,  or  to  maintain  the 
common  prestige,  or  laboured  at  the  production  of  com- 
munity goods.  The  individual  members  in  each  instance 
were  best  serving  themselves  by  contributing  their  ener- 
gies to  the  success  of  joint  efforts.  Then,  as  now,  com- 
munity of  interest  makes  patriotism  a  serviceable  trait, 
the  mark  of  consciousness  of  kind.1 

It  may  be  objected  that  while  neighbourhood  loyalty  no 
doubt  exists,  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  national  patriot- 
ism, the  loyalty  of  the  individual  to  the  nation  as  a  whole. 
Hence  it  will  be  permissible  to  interject  here  a  concrete 
example  of  the  neighbourhood  spirit  as  related  to  what 
is  considered  to  be  the  ultimate  expression  of  national 
patriotism;  that  is,  the  willingness  of  the  individual  to 
risk  his  life  in  war.  Incidentally  to  a  description  of  the 
capture  of  the  St.  Quentin  Canal  on  September  29,  1918, 
by  the  27th  Division,  made  up  of  New  York  state  troops, 

1  Neighbourhood  loyalty  finds  its  most  ideal  expression  in  "col- 
lege spirit,"  as  was  pointed  out  by  Dr.  H.  N.  MacCracken,  President 
of  Vassar  College,  in  an  interview  published  Oct.  15,  1921,  New  York 
Times.  And  by  means  of  the  local  alumni  associations  of  each 
institution  and  through  the  many  intercollegiate  contacts  of  both 
graduate  and  undergraduate  organizations  the  "college  neighbour- 
hood" is  spreading  a  web  that  radiates  from  numerous  centres  over 
all  the  continent  of  North  America  south  to  the  Mexican  border. 
This  web  has  already  many  strands  and  will  very  shortly  bind 
together  the  multitudinous  regional  neighbourhoods  that  comprise 
the  United  States  and  Canada  in  a  close-woven  net. 


108  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Senator  Wadsworth  *  urges  the  territorialization  of  the 
American  Army  in  the  future  as  a  means  of  raising 
morale  and  increasing  the  corps  spirit,  and  quotes  the 
division  commander,  Major-General  O'Ryan,  as  saying 
that :  "In  his  judgment,  had  not  his  infantry  and  machine- 
gun  units  possessed  that  locality  pride,  in  addition  to  their 
American  pride  and  patriotism,  that  sympathetic  touch  of 
elbow,  that  teamwork  that  comes  from  long  acquaintance 
of  men  in  the  ranks  who  came  from  the  same  town  or 
the  same  street  in  a  great  city,  they  could  not  have  per- 
formed the  task  assigned  to  them."  This  evidence  of  the 
import  of  neighbourliness  with  reference  to  warlike  enter- 
prise is  especially  to  the  point  in  that  the  utterance  was 
wholly  unstudied  with  regard  to  any  elucidation  of  the 
nature  of  patriotism. 

Every  neighbourhood  is  a  distinct  entity  and  has  well- 
marked  borderlands.  The  boundaries,  however,  are  not 
sharply  drawn  lines.  They  occur,  rather,  as  a  series  of 
intergradations  of  community  interest.  Hence  within  a 
nation  there  is  no  complete  breaking  off,  there  exist  no 
absolute  gaps  in  the  neighbourly  contacts  of  one  group 
with  others.  At  the  two  ends  of  the  national  territory  the 
community  interest  may  be  entirely  disparate,  but  in  be- 
tween there  is  a  continuous  linking  up  of  region  with 
region,  not  abrupt  transitions.  Each  citizen  in  the  nation 
is  influenced  to  some  extent  by  the  opinions  of  his  imme- 
diate neighbours;  these  in  turn  by  their  neighbours,  so 
that  public  opinion  is  only  the  collective  expression  of  the 
neighbourliness  of  the  whole  nation.  That  one  kind  of 
neighbourliness  and  one  kind  of  public  opinion  ends  and 

1  New  York  Times,  p.  6,  col.  2,  Jan.  29,  1919. 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION    109 

another  begins  at  a  national  boundary  line  is  clue  pri- 
marily to  the  supreme  interest  of  politicians,  as  a  class, 
in  maintaining  the  status  quo  of  the  sovereign  state.  If 
less  attention  in  government  were  given  to  foreign  rela- 
tions and  more  to  securing,  for  the  nation's  citizens,  indi- 
vidual freedom  and  equality  of  opportunity;  if  public 
opinion  concerned  itself  more  generally  with  the  develop- 
ment of  national  resources  rather  than  with  the  compe^ 
tition  of  other  states,  physical  delimitations  of  national 
territory  would  lose  much  of  their  present  significance, 
and  the  friction  that  mars  international  relations,  expres- 
sive simply  of  a  magnified  neighbourhood  feud,  would 
tend  to  disappear. 

Coupled  up  with  the  patriotism  of  place,  that  finds  its 
expression  in  neighbourly  co-operation,  is  the  similarly 
place-rooted  instinct  that  is  designated  by  the  phrase 
love-of-home.  A  great  majority  of  all  national  anthems 
and  patriotic  songs  refer  to  the  homeland,  fatherland  in 
endearing  terms;  here  again  linking  up  the  originally 
tribal  with  the  modem  place-group  association.  There  is 
much  more  to  this  home  instinct  than  mere  sentiment. 
Long  exposure  to  a  given  set  of  environmental  conditions 
establishes  a  completeness  of  habituation  that  in  some 
instances  approaches  essentiality  to  being.  It  is  on  ac- 
count of  this  that  the  seemingly  insignificant  change  that 
results  from  the  complete  obliteration  of  a  village  to  pro- 
vide for  a  city  reservoir  site  is,  in  its  effect  on  the  lives 
of  those  resident  in  that  village,  akin  to  a  tragedy.  The 
order  of  those  persons'  lives  is  altogether  upset.  The 
re-establishment  of  the  village  on  some  near-by  place  will 
not  serve  to  restore  the  situation.    The  same  relative  posi- 


110  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tion  of  each  inhabitant  in  respect  of  his  erstwhile  neigh- 
bours can  not  be  duplicated  under  the  new  conditions, 
many  individuals  must  find  themselves  at  loose  ends  as 
regards  occupation,  old  associates,  former  diversions.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  make  a  study  of  the  fates  of  the 
persons  suffering  such  a  change.  Almost  certainly  there 
would  be  revealed  a  degree  of  intimate  place  connection 
that  is  little  suspected  or  understood. 

When  the  individual  leaves  the  home  place,  whether 
from  choice  or  unwillingly,  he  suffers  similarly.  He  is 
then  subject  to  a  constant  irritation  by  new  things  and 
new  conditions.  Even  when  returning  from  a  vacation 
trip  there  is  a  great  satisfaction  at  settling  back  into  the 
ordered  home  life  once  more.  The  foreigner  is  resented 
not  because  of  his  race,  his  religion,  habits,  clothes,  per  se, 
but  because  they  are  different  from  those  to  which  the 
native  is  accustomed.  It  follows  from  this  that  there  is 
little  danger  of  particular  national  traits  becoming  obso- 
lete because  of  the  development  of  international  amity. 
The  ruts  of  provincial  habit  and  custom  are  too  deep  to  be 
so  easily  effaced.  As  a  man  can  be  loyal  to  his  family  and 
yet  be  a  good  citizen,  so  also  can  the  nationalist  patriot 
preserve  his  allegiance  to  country  and  group  while  yet 
supporting  the  cause  of  international  goodwill,  the  super- 
sovereignty  of  a  society  of  nations. 

It  is  unlikely,  to  be  sure,  that  any  individual  could  be 
roused  to  great  patriotic  fervour  in  behalf  of  a  league  of 
nations,  nor  would  there  be  any  organized  propaganda  to 
bring  such  a  sentiment  to  an  emotional  pitch.  Neither 
would  there  be  any  need  for  such  feeling.  No  special 
interest  would  need  to  be  served,  could  be  served,  if  a 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  THE  NATION    111 

thoroughgoing  international  regime  were  in  force,  hence 
the  abatement  of  international  animosities  would  be  per- 
mitted. Plenty  of  recruits  are  available  for  the  position 
of  policeman  in  national  communities  and  the  police  on 
the  whole  do  their  work  efficiently.  A  policeman  enjoys 
a  certain  prestige.  An  international  policeman  would  be 
vested  with  a  superior  degree  of  that  prestige;  might, 
indeed,  be  quite  a  personage  wherever  encountered. 
Accordingly  there  would  seem  to  be  no  difficulty  in  pro- 
viding the  element  of  force  necessary  to  insure  order  in 
the  international  domain. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  more  than  probable  that,  with 
security  of  life  and  possessions  guaranteed,  and  attention 
no  longer  directed  to  international  rivalries,  the  individual 
might  be  encouraged  to  a  much  more  intensive  love  of 
country  and  home  than  now  prevails.  His  political  in- 
stincts would,  under  those  circumstances,  find  greatest 
opportunity  for  expression  in  local-community  interests. 
From  this  would  result  emulation  between  group  and 
group,  based  on  comparison  of  achievement.  Each  com- 
munity would  strive  to  preserve  what  was  most  distinc- 
tive and  best  in  its  life  and  to  eliminate  that  which  was 
detrimental.  In  large  measure,  emulation  of  this  kind 
does  prevail  in  the  United  States  today,  between  city  and 
city,  state  and  state.  The  New  Yorker  is  no  less  loyal 
to  his  native  state  because  he  does  not  desire  that  it  shall 
have  advantage,  gain,  or  prestige  at  the  expense  of  the 
people  of  Pennsylvania.  And  this,  it  may  be  hoped,  will 
some  day  also  be  the  relation  between  nation  and  nation. 
Each  group  will  then  recognize  itself  to  consist  of  a 
regional  association,  and  to  this  one  association  only  will 


112  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

its  individual  members  owe  loyalty;  but  this  loyalty  will 
not  prevent  either  the  group  as  a  whole  or  its  members 
from  meeting  and  treating  in  amity  with  the  organizations 
or  the  inhabitants  of  other  lands. 


CHAPTER  V 

INTERNATIONAL  ANARCHY  VS.  INTERNATIONAL  AMITY 

Once,  when  the  race  was  very  young,  all  men  may  have 
dwelt  together  amicably.  Weapons  fashioned  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Stone  Age  were,  all  of  them,  so  small  that 
they  could  not  have  been  very  serviceable  in  encounters 
between  human  beings.  This  fact  is  cited  x  as  significant 
evidence  that  early  man  congregated  in  hordes  and  that 
there  was  no  antagonism  either  between  individuals  or 
between  groups  of  men.  No  greater  skill  would  have  been 
required  to  make  weapons  of  a  larger  sort  had  there  been 
need  for  them.  On  the  other  hand,  since  man,  the  animal, 
lacks  horns,  hoofs,  claws,  fangs,  poison  glands,  or  a  hard 
outer  shell,  and  is,  therefore,  as  an  individual  very  poorly 
equipped  for  defending  himself,  it  may  be  deduced  that 
the  fact  of  the  survival  of  the  species  in  itself  indicates 
the  existence  of  organized  bands  of  mankind  at  a  very- 
early  date. 

Yet  it  seems  to  be  clearly  established  that  practically  all 
the  savage  and  barbarous  tribes  known  to  history,  and 
those  which  still  exist,  have  been,  and  are,  hostile  to  other 
communities  of  like  cultural  status  with  which  they  come 
in  contact.     Insistence  by  individuals  on  possession  and 

*W.  J.  Perry,  "War  and  Civilization,"  Bulletin  of  the  John 
Rylands  Library,  Vol.  IV,  Nos.  3-4,  Feb.-July.  Also  Idem,  "Peace- 
able Habits  of  Primitive  Communities,"  Hibbert  Journal,  p.  33, 
Oct.,   1917. 

113 


114  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

monopoly  of  the  services  of  one  or  more  women  seems  to 
have  been  the  particular  eventuality,  in  the  history  of  the 
race,  that  led  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  originally  gregari- 
ous horde  into  smaller  units.  But  as  the  women  and  chil- 
dren of  a  single  family  group,  so  created,  would,  in  the 
absence  of  the  husband  and  father  on  hunting  trips,  be 
altogether  incapable  of  warding  off  any  solitary  male  who 
chanced  their  way,  or,  indeed,  of  protecting  themselves 
from  other  dangers,  it  seems  probable  that  the  cleavage  of 
the  family  from  the  horde  was  followed  almost  imme- 
diately by  the  development  of  tribal  organization.  Each 
tribal  group  included  a  number  of  males  bound  together 
by  blood  kinship,  dominated  by  the  eldest ;  and  practically 
all  savage  tribes  today  are  patriarchal  associations.  That 
descent  seems  to  be  traced,  often,  on  the  matriarchal  side, 
in  existing  savage  societies,  only  indicates,  as  Maine x 
suggests,  "that  circumstances  long  prevented  savage  men 
from  discovering  and  recognizing  paternity,  which  is  a 
matter  of  inference,  as  opposed  to  maternity,  which  is  a 
matter  of  observation."  In  the  tribe  the  strongest  or 
wisest  male  rules.  Within  the  group  actual  or  nominal 
kinship  is  the  basis  of  tolerance,  goodwill,  and  co-opera- 
tion; but  when  members  of  two  different  patriarchal 
groups  meet  it  is  as  foes,  commonly  indeed,  as  rival  can- 
nibal hunters;  for  those  who  succumb  in  intertribal  wars 
become  the  quarry  and  meal  of  the  victors.  To  quote  a 
savage  chieftain:  "When  I  have  killed  an  enemy  it  is 
better  to  eat  him  than  to  let  him  go  to  waste."  2 

1 H.  S.  Maine,  "Early  Law  and  Custom,"  p.  202,  London,  1901. 
*W.  G.  Summer,  "Folkways,"  p.  331,  Boston,  1907.     Quoted  from 
Spix  and  Martins,  "Reise  in  Brasilien,  1817-1820,"  Miinchen,  1831. 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  115 

Cherchez  la  femme  is  held  to  explain  the  first  split  in 
the  general  amity  of  human  relationships.  Quite  literally, 
too,  her  case  is  responsible  for  the  dissension  that  has 
continued  ever  since.  For  the  woman,  in  this  original 
instance,  represented  both  property  and  the  idea  of  domi- 
nation which,  together,  have  moved  peoples  to  make  war 
on  each  other  from  then  until  now.  The  early,  small, 
patriarchal  groups  so  far  lost  friendly  contact  with  one 
another  that  the  members  of  one  tribe  developed  physical 
antagonisms  for  those  of  another.  The  progress  of  man 
from  the  stage  of  the  patriarchal  tribe  to  present-day  or- 
ganization finds  one  measure  in  the  very  much  greater 
numerical  strength  of  the  groups  within  which  mutual 
goodwill  now  prevails.  The  tribe,  in  other  words,  has 
been  expanded  into  the  size  of  a  nation.  On  the  other 
hand,  while  the  units  themselves  have  attained  a  much 
greater  size  than  that  of  the  primitive  clan,  the  sense  of 
group  identity  and  the  manifestation  of  group  prejudices 
persist  in  only  little  abated  vigour.  The  relatively 
amiable  intercourse  that  has  developed  between  some  of 
these  larger  national  units  does  mark  progress  in  the 
breaking  down  of  intergroup  repulsion.  But  the  process 
has  worked  very  slowly.  For  a  variety  of  indications  of 
distrust  and  ill-will,  coupled  with  all  sorts  of  obstructions 
to  the  free  exchange  of  ideas  and  of  goods,  are  immediately 
apparent  in  any  area  where  one  large  modern  group  comes 
in  contact  with  another,  even  in  times  of  peace.  Written 
and  unwritten  law  insists  that  there  shall  be  no  more  inti- 
mate merging  of  the  peoples  or  interests  of  the  differing 
groups  than  is  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  their  several 
circumstances.     And  this  despite  the  fact  that  each  ad- 


116  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

vance  in  understanding  between  groups  and  nations  has 
promoted  the  welfare  of  the  communities  participating 
in  it,  and  of  the  world  as  a  whole.  From  the  day  of  the 
slave-wife,  struggle  for  economic  advantage  has  kept 
peoples  apart,,  the  while,  paradoxically  enough,  it  has 
been  from  increased  sharing  and  interchanges  of  economic 
possessions  that  they  have  profited  most,  and  been  brought 
into  friendly  contact  to  their  mutual  advantage. 

In  fact  the  desire,  and  often  the  acute  need,  of  each 
group  to  possess  itself  of  goods  owned  or  produced  by 
neighbouring  units  is  perhaps  the  one  sufficiently  potent 
factor  that  has  prevented  an  almost  hermit-like  isolation 
of  peoples,  which  would  almost  certainly  have  resulted 
if  intergroup  repulsions  had  in  no  way  been  counteracted. 
When  primitive  men  met  as  foes  they  could,  probably,  in 
most  instances  have  each  withdrawn  and  so  avoided  con- 
flict, and  they  might  have  done  this  except  for  the  fact  that 
the  enemy's  carcass  would  supply  a  meal  and  his  females 
add  variety  to  the  home  supply.  With  some  advance  in 
culture,  and  the  consequently  greater  extent  of  tribal 
possessions,  raids  continued  to  be  a  convenient  means  for 
securing  the  stock  of  a  neighbouring  group,  and  military 
prowess,  coupled  with  tribal  loyalty,  came  to  be  regarded 
as  superior  virtues.  War  was  obviously  the  way  to  get 
something  for  nothing.  The  fact  that  individuals  of  the 
successful  group  (as  well  as  of  the  vanquished)  lost  their 
lives  in  the  encounters  seems  ever  to  have  been  held  of 
little  account;  after  all,  these  were  dead  and  had  no 
further  interest  in  the  proceedings.  There  can  be  no 
mistake  about  this,  for,  except  as  each  soldier  expects  to 
survive,  modern  wars  would  not  be  possible.     If  all  the 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  117 

host  that  suffer  death  in  each  great  war  could  have  known 
before  the  struggle  began  that  they  were  doomed  to  suc- 
cumb it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  motive  or  force 
could  have  coerced  most  of  the  victims  to  participate  in 
the  hostilities. 

Though  the  dead  were  eliminated  from  the  reckoning, 
it  must,  nevertheless,  have  dawned  on  human  intelligence 
at  some  time  in  its  primitive  evolution  that  while  success 
in  war  meant  survival  and  advantage  for  the  group,  war 
was,  after  all,  a  wasteful  method  of  acquisition  and  that, 
especially  if  the  contestants  were  rather  evenly  matched, 
the  losses  both  in  men  and  material  were  apt  to  be  unduly 
heavy  even  for  the  ultimately  victorious;  so  greatly  so, 
in  fact,  as  to  make  offensive  forays  enterprises  from  which 
it  was  quite  dubious  whether  any  gain  would  result. 

Owing  to  considerations  of  this  nature,  probably,  primi- 
tive barter  and  exchange  were  first  initiated.  Certain 
possessions  of  a  neighbouring  group  continued  to  be  emi- 
nently desirable,  though  the  risk  of  their  possible  acquire- 
ment by  force  was  ordinarily  found  to  be  too  great.  There 
developed,  accordingly,  an  alternation  or  combination  of 
war  and  trade  relations,  which,  in  the  crudity  and 
naivete  of  their  application  by  primitive  peoples,  or  in 
early  history,  may  seem  curious,  but  which,  with  refine- 
ments and  various  circumlocutions,  continue,  indeed,  to 
be  practised  between  nations  today. 

It  is  related  that  exchanges  of  commodities  between 
certain  African  tribes  are  made  while  both  parties  to  the 
trade  hold  their  weapons  poised  for  any  eventuality. 
Herodotus  is  responsible  for  the  statement  that,  when  deal- 
ing with  the  natives  of  the  northwest  African  coast,  the 


118  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Carthaginians  first  announced  their  presence  by  columns 
of  smoke,  then  exposed  their  goods  on  the  shore  and  retired 
again  to  their  ships.  After  seeing  the  foreign  traders 
safely  away  the  natives  would  emerge  from  concealment, 
inspect  the  offered  wares,  and  place  beside  them  what 
they  were  willing  to  give  in  exchange.  Several  visits  and 
retirements  might  need  to  be  made,  with  additions  and 
subtractions  by  each  party,  before  a  satisfactory  trade 
could  be  effected ;  but  personal  contacts  between  members 
of  the  two  groups  were  thus  avoided.  That  the  natives 
were  entirely  warranted  in  adopting  these  precautions  is 
indicated  by  the  procedure  of  the  Phoenician  forerunners 
of  the  Carthaginians  when  on  their  combined  trading  and 
plundering  expeditions.  But  even  the  Phoenicians  had 
learned  that  to  murder  and  plunder  was  equivalent  to 
killing  the  goose  of  the  golden  eggs ;  that  it  paid  better  to 
make  repeated  exchanges  with  the  alien  and  unfriendly 
tribes  they  encountered  than  to  kill  or  enslave  the  savages 
and  take  all  their  substance  at  the  first  juncture.  Deposit 
barter,  accordingly,  got  quite  a  vogue,  and  is  still  prac- 
tised between  primitive  peoples  in  remote  parts  of  the 
world. 

The  immediate  effect  of  any  initial  establishment  of 
trading  relations  between  tribes  that  had  each,  hitherto, 
depended  entirely  on  their  own  efforts  to  secure  a  liveli- 
hood and  primitive  appurtenances  by  engaging  in  hunting, 
fishing,  and  the  collection  of  a  variety  of  mineral  and  wild 
vegetable  products  and  had,  in  such  pursuits,  followed  a 
drifting,  nomadic  existence,  was,  probably,  to  make  more 
real  and  significant  the  concept  of  tribal  possession  and 
dominion  over  a  certain  territory.      The  clan-grounded, 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  119 

instinctive  hostility  to,  and  repulsion  for,  the  stranger 
group  coupled  with  an,  also  very  primitively  acquired, 
understanding  of  the  necessity  of  preventing  alien  en- 
croachment on  the  sources  of  the  food  supply  of  the  group, 
had  previously  supplied  a  motive,  not  very  well  defined, 
perhaps,  but  yet  strong  enough  to  bring  about  combats 
when  any  tribe  trespassed  on  country  beyond  its  customary 
range.  When,  however,  through  the  institution  of  barter, 
it  was  realized  further  that  the  regional  habitat  contained 
particular  resources  in  surplus  over  domestic  needs,  but 
wanted  by  groups  in  adjacent  territory  and  therefore 
affording  material  to  use  in  exchange  for  coveted  sub- 
stances, lacking  in  greater  or  less  degree  in  the  home  en- 
vironment, the  tribe  was  measurably  confirmed  in  its  sense 
of  ownership  of  the  territory  that  it  roamed  over.  Instead 
of  aimless  wanderings,  purposeful  journeys  were  also 
made  necessary,  because  certain  areas  needed  to  be  re- 
sorted to  at  given  times  in  order  that  supplies  for  trade 
might  be  secured.  The  land  acquired  a  distinctive  value, 
not  only  as  a  whole,  but  in  its  several  parts  and  their 
particular  resources ;  not  yet  as  apportioned  to  individuals 
but  as  the  holding  of  the  entire  group. 

The  population  of  areas  occupied  exclusively  by  hunting 
and  fishing  tribes  must  of  necessity  remain  sparse,  for 
the  exploitation  of  natural  resources  is  then  narrowly 
restricted  and  the  social  organization  of  the  occupant 
groups  can,  accordingly,  remain  very  simple.  When  once 
trade  relations  had  been  entered  into  with  neighbouring 
groups,  or  with  strangers  from  a  distance  who  made  peri- 
odical visits  in  force  for  the  purpose  of  barter,  a  wider 
and  more  specialized  utilization  of  the  provision  of  the 


120  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

environment  naturally  followed.  This  made  possible  an 
increase  in  the  density  of  population  and  led  thus  to  an 
enlargement  of  the  tribal  group.  With  progressive  ad- 
vancement in  civilization,  accompanying  the  development 
of  the  arts  and  industries,  the  nation,  with  its  dense  popu- 
lation and  regional  expansion,  has  been  evolved  from  the 
original  nucleus  of  the  hunter  and  fisher  tribe.  The  sur- 
prising fact  of  this  evolution  is,  however,  not  that  the 
nation  comprises  so  much  greater  numbers,  or  that  it  holds 
so  much  wider  territories,  often,  than  did  the  primitive 
tribes,  but  that  the  narrow  limits  of  tribal  coherence  fixed 
by  close  kinship  of  blood  were  broken  down  very  early, 
and  that,  nations  now  are  made  up  of  ethnically  very 
diverse,  human  elements.  The  bond  that  held  together  the 
original  tribal  unit  has  all  but  disappeared;  with  the  en- 
largement of  the  group  and  its  advance  in  culture,  kin- 
ship has  been  displaced  by  the  ties  of  the  land  which  were 
first  significantly  brought  into  human  consciousness  by 
the  initiation  of  trade. 

The  animosity  that  mars  modern  international  relations 
is  due  only  in  very  slight  measure  to  the  physical  antago- 
nisms that  made  for  hostility  between  different  tribes. 
The  consciousness  of  kind  and  singleness  of  purpose  that 
defines  the  national  group  is  the  knowledge  of  common  and 
exclusive  possession  of  certain  territory  and  a  determina- 
tion to  maintain  this  control  as  the  prime  essential  of 
national  independence,  or,  on  the  part  of  a  landless  group, 
the  desire  to  secure  a  certain  domain,  its  opportunities  and 
resources.  Rivalry  for  the  possession  of  lands  not  already 
nationally  occupied  or  only  feebly  held,  and  covetousness 
in  general  of  territory  under  the  dominion  of  other  na- 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  121 

tionals  have,  concurrently  with  the  substitution  of  loyalty 
to  home  for  loyalty  to  kin,  become  fundamental  to  prac- 
tically all  contention  between  national  groups. 

It  is,  therefore,  especially  pertinent  that  there  should 
be  noted  the  steps  in  this  transition  from  one  to  another 
basis  of  adherence  in  human  associations.  What  factors 
made  possible  the  great  expansion  numerically  in  the  mem- 
bership included  in  a  single  group  accompanied  by  eth- 
nic diversification,  often  of  an  extraordinary  degree,  and 
the  development  of  broad  personal  tolerance  ?  Why  and 
how  did  intergroup  relations  become  so  much  multiplied 
and  progressively  essential,  as  the  national  organization 
more  and  more  completely  supplanted  the  earlier  tribal 
adherence  ? 

The  Paiute  Indians  of  the  Great  Basin  Region  in  the 
west  of  the  United  States  illustrate  the  conditions  of  the 
earliest  phase  of  tribal  organization,  in  that  their  culture 
lacks  any  sense  of  ownership  of  the  soil.  The  country 
formerly  occupied  by  the  Paiute  tribes  is  so  barren  and 
inhospitable,  because  of  its  marked  aridity  in  association 
with  low  temperatures,  that  the  natives  were  compelled  to 
rove  about  in  very  small  bands  seeking  the  rabbits  and 
other  small  game,  fish,  roots,  and  seeds  by  means  of  which 
they  eked  out  a  miserable  existence.  The  very  scanty  pro- 
vision of  game,  and  other  means  of  subsistence,  in  any  one 
locality  permitted  only  small  groups,  and  made  it  neces- 
sary for  each  clan  to  range  so  widely,  and  in  so  irregular 
directions,  over  the  territory  that  the  individual  tribes 
seem  not  to  have  asserted  ownership  in  any  particular  por- 
tion of  the  country. 

On  the  other  hand,  each  group  of  a  number  of  almost 


122  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

equally  wretched,  wandering  tribes  found  in  north-central 
Australia  is  reputed  to  be  so  definitely  allocated  to  a  par- 
ticular region  that  the  idea  of  ousting  any  one  group  from 
its  special  habitat  does  not  seem  to  have  any  place  in  the 
pursuit  or  settlement  of  intertribal  wars.  Although  both 
the  North  American  and  the  Australian  natives  cited  ap- 
parently have  about  the  same  low  status  in  culture,  the 
difference  in  their  several  relations  to  the  land  appears  to 
be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  environment  of  the  Australian 
savages  is  enough  richer  in  natural  resources  that  a  speci- 
fied and  relatively  restricted  district  will  support  a  single 
small  group,  thus  freeing  it  from  the  necessity  of  ranging 
widely  and  indefinitely  in  search  of  subsistence. 

Eskimo  tribes  have  probably  about  the  same  degree  of 
proprietorship  feeling  in  regard  to  their  respective  strips 
of  Arctic  coast  as  do  the  Australian  natives.  The  Eskimo 
derive  their  livelihood  from  the  sea  but  are  hunters  rather 
than  fishermen.  Tribes  that  depend  primarily  on  their 
catch  of  fish  as  a  main  food  supply  are  not  under  the  same 
compulsion  to  seek  their  quarry,  often  far  afield,  as  must 
the  Eskimo  hunters.  A  fishing  tribe,  therefore,  is  gener- 
ally found  to  occupy  a  definite  site  and  to  have  a  corre- 
spondingly better  developed  sense  of  identity  with  the 
area  on  which  it  lives  than  is  possible  for  a  nomadic  tribe 
of  hunters.  Fisher  folk  situated  on  the  sea-coasts  in  tem- 
perate latitudes,  and  on  lake  shores  and  river  banks 
generally,  have  immediately  available  a  relatively  ample 
and  certain  food  supply.  Having  their  chief  means  of 
subsistence  in  a  sense  guaranteed,  the  fishermen  tend  also 
to  exploit  the  land  areas  adjacent  to  the  fishing  grounds 
as  far  as  they  are  able ;  deriving  from  them  supplementary 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  123 

supplies  of  varied  kind.  Thus  they  come  to  develop  per- 
manent and  intimate  relationships  with  comparatively 
limited  regions.  This  was  the  adjustment  to  environment 
of  the  occupants  of  the  ancient  lake  villages  of  Switzerland 
probably,  and  is  that  of  the  negro  tribes  dwelling  along 
the  Congo  in  Africa,  of  the  South  Pacific  Islanders,  and 
of  the  Indians  of  the  northwest  coast  of  North  America, 
particularly  the  Haida  and  Tlingit  tribes.  Tlingit  and 
Haida  organization  and  tribal  institutions  are  repre- 
sentative of  those  which  prevail  in  all  these  groups.  That 
blood  kinship  is  the  essential  basis  of  coherence  and  unity 
in  the  Tlingit  and  Haida  tribes  is  particularly  evident 
because  of  the  conspicuous  advertising  given  it  by  their 
totem  or  crest  system,  in  accordance  with  which  each  in- 
dividual in  the  tribe  indicates  his  line  of  descent  by 
painting  the  appropriate  animal  effigies  on  the  front  of 
his  abode  and,  more  recently,  by  carving  them  on  monu- 
mental poles.  Each  Tlingit  tribe  has  its  own  salmon 
streams  and  berry  patches,  and  perhaps  also  sealing 
grounds,  to  each  of  which  resort  is  had  at  the  appropriate 
season;  and  all  of  which  are  respected  as  the  particular 
possessions  of  that  tribe  and  are  not  poached  upon  by 
neighbouring  tribes. 

Transition  from  a  main  reliance  on  fishing  to  a  status 
in  which  chief  dependence  was  put  on  agriculture  must 
have  been  feasible,  primitively,  for  many  originally  fisher 
groups.  It  is  entirely  conceivable  that  the  very  earliest 
sedentary  occupation  of  the  most  ancient  sites  of  civiliza- 
tion, those  of  the  Nile  Valley,  of  Mesopotamia,  of  the 
North  of  India,  of  Phoenicia,  and  of  China  was  the  result 
of  transition  from  the  life  of  hunters  or  pastoral  nomads 


124  INHEKITING  THE  EAKTH 

to  that  of  fisher  folk,  and  then  to  keepers  of  domesticated 
cattle  and  to  cultivators  of  the  soil.  Breasted/  however, 
ignores  the  possibility  of  an  intervening  fisher  stage  in 
the  Nile  Valley  and  has  the  plateau  hunters  become  culti- 
vators of  the  soil  and  domesticators  of  animals  immediately 
they  descended  to  the  alluvium  at  the  river's  side.  Whether 
or  not  it  applies  in  this  particular  case,  the  opportunity 
to  fish  at  some  especially  favoured  spot  would  furnish  a 
strong  incentive  to  settle  there  permanently,  and  thus  be 
the  one  factor  competent  to  convert  the  huntsman  and 
the  shepherd  from  a  nomadic  existence  to  that  of  a  lifelong 
dweller  in  a  village.  In  Mesopotamia  it  is  quite  likely 
that  the  pastoral-nomad  stage  of  culture  intervened  be- 
tween that  of  the  more  primitive-hunter  culture  and  the 
later  agricultural  status.  Domestication  of  animals  had 
therefore  been  accomplished  before  a  sedentary  existence 
was  attempted,  and  the  possession  of  herds  may  have 
facilitated  a  direct  transition  from  a  wandering  existence 
to  fixed  residence  and  main  dependence  on  agriculture. 

But  it  should  be  noted  that  the  nomadic  tribes  of  the 
grasslands  are  perhaps  more  completely  estopped  than  are 
tribes  of  wandering  hunters  from  any  notable  increase  in 
either  the  size  of  the  tribal  unit  or  in  the  total  popula- 
tion of  a  district.  If  the  number  of  the  beasts  belonging 
to  a  single  unit  is  greatly  increased,  to  provide  for  an  equal 
augmentation  in  the  membership  of  the  tribe,  the  supply 
of  water  of  the  desert  spring  will  become  too  scanty  and 
the  pasture  about  it  will  be  too  immediately  consumed. 
If  the  tribes  remain  small,  while  the  total  of  their  number, 

1  J.  H.  Breasted,  "Origins  of  Civilization,"  The  Scientific  Monthly, 
pp.   308,  314,   Oct.,   1919. 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  125 

and  that  of  their  flocks,  increases  rapidly,  the  capacity 
of  the  grasslands  to  afford  subsistence  is  quickly  surpassed 
and  the  result  is  famine,  intertribal  conflicts,  and  raids 
until  numbers  are  again  reduced  in  the  measure  necessary 
that  a  livelihood  is  assured  to  all  those  who  survive.  And 
the  meagre  pasture  of  the  steppes  can  at  best  support  only 
a  very  sparse  population. 

Hence  it  appears  that  when  and  where  primitive  tribes 
dwell  in  permanent  villages  and  derive  their  subsistence 
from  fishing,  from  pasture-fed  cattle,  and  from  agriculture, 
a  notable  increase  in  population  density  over  that  possible 
to  nomadic  hunters  and  pastoral  groups  can  occur.  The 
tribal  unit  comprised  in  the  single  fisher  or  agricultural 
village  could,  moreover,  be  much  larger  than  that  of# 
hunting  groups  or  pastoral  nomads.  Again,  when  the 
population  of  an  original  settlement  became  so  numerous 
that  the  resources  of  the  immediate  site  were  no  longer 
adequate  to  support  all  the  inhabitants,  fission  no  doubt 
resulted  and  new  sites  were  occupied  by  colonial  groups 
from  the  earlier  settlements.  Thus  a  wide  region  might 
eventually  become  inhabited  by  a  confederation  of  tribes 
with  a  common  origin.  But  the  development,  by  this 
process  only,  of  a  much  larger  amicable  group  than  that  of 
the  patriarchal  tribe  would  seem  to  have  afforded  very 
little  opportunity  for  the  introduction  of  alien  stock;  for 
any  expansion  involving  the  inclusion  of  ethnically  variant 
elements,  and  the  consequent  breaking  down  of  the  narrow, 
gentile  prejudices  of  the  primitive,  family  clan. 

Nevertheless  there  were  certain  possibilities  by  which 
new  blood  might  be  introduced  even  under  this  limitation. 
The  colonial  expansion  of  the  village  settlements  involved 


126  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

the  displacement  of  tribes  in  adjoining  territory  that  had 
not  advanced  beyond  the  hunter  stage,  and,  in  a  measure, 
the  absorption  of  these  more  primitive  folk  as  well.  The 
outward  spread  of  the  fisher-agricultural  tribes  was  in 
fact  the  inauguration  of  a  process  that  has  held  sway 
ever  since  in  the  successive,  if  not  progressive,  occupation 
of  the  regions  of  the  earth  by  different  groups  of  mankind. 

Because  the  people  of  the  village  settlements  had  de- 
veloped a  superior  culture  they  could  utilize  the  environ- 
ment more  intensively  and  hence  make  it  support  a  denser 
population.  But  in  time  the  limit  of  increase  in  numbers 
possible  even  with  wiser  utilization  of  resources  would, 
at  any  given  site,  be  approached  and  population  pressure 
would  ensue.  There  was,  however,  nothing  new  in  this. 
Pressure  of  population  numbers  had  earlier  been,  and 
no  doubt  was  being,  experienced  by  the  hunter  tribes  of 
the  same  neighbourhood  at  the  time  of  fisher-agricultural 
expansion.  In  fact  vast  areas  may  be  regarded  as  once 
having  been  filled  up  to  the  subsistence  limit  in  the  hunter 
stage  of  human  culture;  for  example,  the  larger  portion 
of  the  North  American  continent  was  so  filled  by  the 
Indians  at  the  time  of  Columbus.  But  surpluses  of  popu- 
lation in  the  hunter  stage  disappeared  through  famine 
and  by  conflict.  The  new  condition  that  was  introduced 
with  the  expansion  of  the  fisher-agriculturist  groups  was 
the  possibility  of  increasing  the  density  of  population  over 
a  wide  region  through  displacement  of  backward  groups 
by  others  more  advanced  in  the  development  of  arts  and 
industries.  That  process  has  not  yet  ceased  of  application ; 
in  fact,  it  has  tended  to  become  cumulative. 

There  were,  however,  only  relatively  slight  differences 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  127 

in  the  cultures  of  the  tribal  groups  opposed  to  each  other  in 
these  first  instances  of  territorial  aggrandizement.  Alien 
women  captured  by  the  conquering  colonials  were  gladly 
preserved  and  apportioned  among  the  males  of  the  victors. 
It  seems  also  to  have  been  rather  universally  the  custom 
among  barbarians  to  adopt  numerous  male  captives  into 
the  tribe ;  an  expedient  that  afforded  a  means  for  offsetting 
unavoidable  losses  of  warriors  even  when  the  tribe  had 
been,  as  a  group,  uniformly  successful  in  a  series  of  en- 
counters. The  Iroquois  Indians  of  North  America,  typi- 
cally representative  of  a  group  slightly  advanced  in 
culture  over  their  neighbours,  practised  such  adoption  on 
a  quite  extensive  scale.  Thus,  as  the  emigrant  villagers, 
more  competent,  therefore  more  prosperous  and  hence  also 
more  prolific,  successively  displaced  the  primitive  fringing 
peoples,  a  not  inconsiderable  measure  of  new  blood  was 
added  to  the  victorious  group  by  preservation  of  captives. 
And  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  existence  of  these  cap- 
tives in  their  midst  had  some  effect  in  ameliorating  gentile 
intolerance. 

The  fact  that  the  fisher-agriculturist  settlements  were 
located  on  the  shores  of  river,  lake,  or  sea,  moreover, 
facilitated  the  development  of  trade  by  their  peoples. 
A  water  highway,  particularly  a  river,  would  first  be  a 
route  for  plundering  raids,  then  for  timid  and  suspicious 
barter  and,  as  population  along  its  course  grew  denser 
and  more  completely  sedentary-agricultural,  mutual  con- 
fidence and  toleration,  at  least  in  so  far  as  trade  relations 
were  concerned,  could  be  much  extended.  Rafts  and  boats, 
even  of  the  most  primitive  type,  serve  to  convey  bulky 
goods  so  easily  that  development  of  inland  water  routes 


128  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

continues  to  be  advocated  despite  modern  facilities  for 
overland  transportation.  The  difficulty  of  navigation 
against  the  current,  up-stream,  was  no  doubt  a  deterrent  of 
considerable  significance  to  the  earliest  utilization  of  river 
routes  for  carriage  of  goods.  But  in  the  case  of  the  Nile, 
one  of  the  streams  first  so  used,  the  normal  direction  of 
the  trade  winds,  which  prevail  over  its  course,  is  up- 
stream, making  possible,  with  the  employment  of  sails, 
against-current  transportation;  and  this  comparably  easy 
to  that  of  down-stream  movement.  A  progressive  inter- 
gradation  of  the  originally  separate  groups  situated  on  the 
Nile  banks,  accompanied  by  a  notable  uniformity  of  de- 
velopment of  the  whole  Nile  Valley,  resulted  from  the 
possibility  of  exchange  of  goods,  through  river  carriage,  in 
both  directions  on  the  Nile. 

The  currents  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  of  Mesopo- 
tamia, on  the  other  hand,  are  strong,  and  there  was  no 
counter-propulsive  force  available  to  the  Mesopotamian 
ancients  for  up-stream  movement  of  their  craft.  In  conse- 
quence there  developed  a  large  volume  of  "in"  traffic  down 
these  river  arteries,  that  could  only  be  compensated  for 
by  trade  outflows  through  very  numerous  veins  of  dilute, 
overland  transportation.  Hence  Babylon  became  one  of 
the  first  great  commercial  centres,  typical  in  that  it  re- 
ceived and  engorged  a  great  bulk  of  raw  materials  and 
gave  out  trickles  of  fine  stuffs  in  payment.  The  situation 
of  the  Phoenicians,  on  an  essentially  current-free  inland 
sea,  in  a  way  provided  them  with  the  advantage  both  of 
the  Nile  Valley  and  of  Babylon,  for  on  them  focussed  the 
overland  routes  from  each  of  these  early  centres  and  they 
could  also  set  sail  in  any  direction  over  the  Mediterranean 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  129 

waters.     Accordingly    theirs    became    the    first    historic 
trading  empire. 

Yet  another  factor  that  tended  to  bring  about  the 
change  from  the  narrowly  restricted  cohesion  of  the  kin- 
ship tribe  to  that  based  on  a  realization  of  unity  through 
common  possession  of  a  country  was  the  development  of 
religion.  J.  F.  Myres  x  describes  the  early  occupants  of 
the  Nile  Valley  as  made  up  of  tribes,  each  recognized  as 
possessor  of  its  own  district,  having  intertribal  intercourse, 
friendly,  competitive,  and  hostile,  and  kept  active  by  a 
lively  up-and-down-stream  traffic  in  goods.  The  Nile  vil- 
lagers were  partly  pastoral,  for  they  owned  oxen  and  goats, 
with  slaves  to  tend  them;  and  asses  for  transport.  If 
irrigation  was  practised  it  was  only  in  a  limited,  local 
way.  Similarly,  in  Mesopotamia,  the  ancient  culture  of 
Elam,  preceding  Sumerian  Babylonia,  was  that  of  a 
region,  not  of  a  state.  Its  groups  of  population  had  each 
their  own  ideals  of  conduct  and  beliefs  about  the  will  of 
heaven.  (Myres,  (bid.,  p.  124.)  The  reference  to  the 
"will  of  heaven"  is  significant  in  that  it  gives  a  clue  to 
the  ground  for  cohesion  in  the  later  development  of  tribal 
organization  when,  because  of  increase  in  numbers,  the 
group  exceeded  the  limitations  imposed  by  a  bond  due  to 
literally  interpreted,  ancestral  kinship. 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  tribal  aggregation  a  sort  of 
religion  makes  itself  manifest  through  a  belief  in  super- 
natural qualities  or  powers  residing  in  men,  animals,  ob- 
jects, deities.  Among  the  Malay  peoples  these  qualities 
were  denoted  by  the  word  mana,  among  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indians  the  terms  used  were  orenda,  manito,  and 

*"Dawn  of  History,"  p.  58,  New  York,  1911. 


130  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

waJcanda.  The  head  of  a  clan  is  eventually  regarded  as 
the  representative  of  a  mythological  ancestor,  the  one  who 
has  inherited  his  orenda ;  officials  of  the  tribe  acquire 
a  priestly  function,  rituals  are  developed,  and  the  priest- 
craft as  a  whole  exercises  governing  powers.  In  their 
initial  stages  the  religious  rites  are  gentile,  and  participa- 
tion in  them  is  restricted  to  the  patrician  members  of  the 
group.  The  inclusion  of  numbers  of  aliens  into  the  tribe 
causes  the  ancestral  gods  to  be,  in  time,  supplanted  by  re- 
gional gods  to  whom  all  in  the  group  may  turn  for  com- 
fort and  assurances  of  safety,  and  these  regional  deities 
require  to  be  propitiated  just  as  much  as  do  the  aristocratic 
clan  gods.  Thus  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Egyptian 
tribes  had  at  first  each  its  own  local  deity,  consequently 
there  was  then  a  multiplicity  of  gods  in  the  Nile  country. 
But  it  is  significant  that  the  various  gods  of  Egypt  often 
had  attributes  in  common,  and  that,  eventually,  the  wor- 
ship of  all  the  local  gods,  the  cult  of  sacred  animals,  be- 
came subsidiary  to  that  of  Horus,  the  god  of  sun  and 
sky,  whose  enemies  were  cold  and  darkness ;  and  who,  ac- 
cordingly, was  representative  of  the  beneficent  aspect  of  all 
the  Nile  environment.  In  Babylonia  the  record  is  like- 
wise one  of  local  cults  followed  by  the  supremacy  of 
Marduk,  also  a  sun  god,  but  in  this  case  "he  who  over- 
comes the  waters" ;  for  the  Babylonians  had  to  contend 
with  floods  rather  than  with  cold  and  darkness.  Thus  the 
influence  of  place  made  itself  effective  through  religion, 
also,  to  promote  a  broader  unity  of  peoples. 

The  narrow,  personal  intolerance  of  the  primitive  clan 
is  broken  down  progressively  through  realization  of  terri- 
torial rights  and  opportunities  for  barter ;  by  development 


ANAKCHY  VS.  AMITY  131 

of  permanent  settlements  dependent  on  fishing,  agricul- 
ture, and  the  keeping  of  domestic  animals ;  by  increasing 
density  of  population,  through  colonial  expansion  of  more 
advanced  groups,  accompanied  by  assimilation  of  alien 
elements ;  through  development  of  transport  and  trade,  and 
by  the  establishment  of  local  and  regional  gods  in  place 
of  earlier  ancestral  deities.  But  even  when  the  degree  of 
unity  indicated  by  a  wide  acceptance  of  a  single  religious 
belief  had  been  attained  there  could  scarcely  have  been 
any  integration  of  community  interests  on  a  regionally 
broad  scale  and  basis. 

One  further  step,  in  the  consolidation  of  originally 
heterogeneous-population  groups,  was  possible  through  the 
development  of  a  hunting  tribe  to  a  fisher-pastoral-agri- 
cultural people,  especially  in  the  regions  where  irrigation 
co-operation  early  brought  about  the  association  of  large 
numbers.  That  step  was  the  founding  of  cities.  With  the 
attainment  of  the  fisher  stage,  village  life  begins,  and 
probably  becomes  more  fixed  as  greater  and  greater  de- 
pendence is  placed  on  the  agricultural  yield.  But  town 
life,  and  the  rise  of  a  district  metropolis,  could  not  follow 
from  this  alone.  The  concentration  of  population  in 
cities,  past  and  present,  is  dependent  on  the  focussing  of 
trade  at  some  particular  point,  followed  by  the  rise  of  arts 
and  industries  at  such  centres,  because  of  the  variety  and 
volume  of  raw  goods  available  there  for  conversion  into 
more  specialized  products  by  the  application  of  labour. 

Even  in  regions  that  are  geographically  quite  uniform, 
certain  areas  nevertheless  occur  that  are  superior  in 
natural  advantages  to  the  average  of  the  territory.  Thus 
there  is  better  pasturage  around  a  spring  in  the  steppe 


132  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

lands,  along  the  course  of  a  river  more  fish  can  probably 
be  had  in  the  pool  at  the  end  of  a  rapids  than  from  the 
general  current.  Some  material  may  occur  at  one  place 
that  is  lacking  in  the  region  generally,  or  some  substance 
may  be  of  better  quality  or  more  accessible  in  a  particular 
area.  Primitively,  clay  and  flint  were  probably  the  great 
desiderata.  At  points  where  these  occurred  abundantly  the 
earliest  manufactures  might  begin  and  the  inhabitants  of 
those  areas  be  led  to  a  more  complete  and  correlated  ex- 
ploitation of  natural  resources  than  their  less  fortunately 
situated  neighbours.  If,  further,  the  industrial  site  was 
located  where  routes  of  trade  from  unlike  geographic  re- 
gions crossed  each  other,  its  manufactures  and  growth  as  a 
population  centre  would  be  afforded  great  impetus.  The 
site  of  Thebes,  capital  of  the  Middle  Kingdom  of  ancient 
Egypt,  will  serve  as  an  illustration.  At  this  location 
the  Nile  bends  far  to  the  east  toward  the  Red  Sea,  bringing 
the  river  to  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  sea-shore, 
nearer  than  at  any  other  point  until  the  Delta  is  reached. 
Travel  and  transport  across  the  relatively  narrow,  inter- 
vening desert  barrier  at  Thebes  is,  moreover,  facilitated 
by  a  large  side  valley  extending  eastward  as  a  deep  cut 
into  the  plateau.  This  cut  afforded  not  only  a  low-grade 
route  but  also  was  provided  with  a  sufficient  number  of 
water-holes  to  make  the  trip  between  river  and  coast 
feasible  for  men  and  burden-bearing  animals.  On  the 
west,  similarly,  an  easy  road  across  the  desert  from  Thebes 
leads  to  Kharga,  the  nearest  and  largest  of  the  Libyan 
oases,  and  from  Kharga  in  turn  other  habitable  spots 
in  the  western  desert  were  accessible.  From  the  south 
the  products  of  Nubia  came  to  Thebes  over  the  river; 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  133 

from  the  north,  similarly,  those  of  the  Delta.  The  Thebes 
area,  accordingly,  was  the  natural  centre  of  interchange  of 
goods  from  east,  west,  north,  and  south. 

The  particular  sites  of  the  settlements  that  later  grow 
into  cities,  until  very  recent  modern  times,  have  generally 
been  determined  by  considerations  of  defence.  At  defen- 
sible points  it  naturally  followed  that  religious  shrines 
were  erected  under  the  shelter  of  the  fort.  As  set  forth 
by  Giddings,1  the  establishment  of  a  fort  and  a  shrine 
demanded  the  presence  of  a  garrison  and  priests,  and  of 
craftsmen  and  personal  attendants  to  serve  these  non- 
producers.  The  shrine  attracted  pilgrims,  these  brought 
tribute,  the  nucleus  of  population  and  the  protection  af- 
forded brought  traders,  and  the  combination  of  all  these 
factors  meant  that  stocks  of  food  and  goods  accumulated 
and  that  barter  flourished.  The  inhabitants  of  a  so  engen- 
dered population  centre — soldiers,  priests,  craftsmen,  pil- 
grims, traders — would  at  first  be  comprised  chiefly  of 
tribesmen,  still  imbued  with  clan  jealousies.  Enemy 
aliens,  the  conquered  and  enslaved  men  of  other  tribes, 
part  of  the  booty  secured  on  expeditions,  sent  out  from  the 
city  itself  often,  and  held  as  servitors  and  followers  by 
the  various  tribal  chieftains,  shortly  became  a  considerable 
element  of  the  resident  population.  Others  of  the  slave 
class,  fugitives  from  masters  living  in  the  surrounding 
district,  found  the  town  a  good  hiding-place  and  augmented 
the  numbers  of  its  "foreign-born"  population.  If  these 
fugitives  were  craftsmen  they  might  be  openly  tolerated, 
in  any  event  their  children  became  birthright  citizens. 
In  time  this  heterogeneous  class  of  outsiders  developed 
*F.  H.  Giddings,  "The  Responsible  State,"  PP-  9-12,  Boston,  1918. 


134  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

into  a  numerically  strong  group  of  plebeians,  as  contrasted 
with  the  patrician  ruling  class.  In  time,  too,  regional 
gods  supplanted  the  ancestral,  tribal  deities,  and  the  greatly 
increased  accumulation  of  wealth  concentrated  in  the  city 
made  it  necessary  to  include  members  of  the  plebeian  class 
in  the  city's  armed  guard.  Thus  what  was  originally  a 
distinctly  inferior  class  gradually  acquired  full  citizenship 
rights.  A  next  step  was  to  declare  all  inhabitants  within 
the  territory  dominated  by  the  metropolis  members  of  the 
group  for  civic  and  military  purposes.  That  action  in 
itself  did  much  to  engender  patriotism,  love  of,  and 
habituation  to,  a  common  home,  willingness  to  struggle  for 
the  preservation  of  the  individual  economic  opportunity 
it  afforded;  political  consciousness  as  opposed  to  the 
earlier  tribal  adhesion.  The  knowledge  that  envious 
enemies  regarded  the  city,  with  its  concentrated  wealth,  as 
a  distinct  entity,  a  rich  prize  if  it  could  be  taken,  no  doubt 
also  had  much  to  do  with  the  full  realization  of  commun- 
ity consciousness  and  like-mindedness  on  the  part  of  the 
inhabitants.1 

The  city-state,  accordingly,  owed  its  establishment  to 
recognition,  on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  region, 
that  they  had  a  common  interest  in  the  economic  opportun- 
ities the  territory  afforded  and  that  the  welfare  of  all  was 
best  served  by  free  competition  between  the  citizens  in 
utilizing  and  developing  the  resources  of  the  area.  The 
city-state  was  succeeded  by  the  nation-state,  and  this  in 

1  For  a  more  extended  discussion  of  the  influence  of  place  in 
bringing  about  the  city-state,  especially  as  applied  to  Greek  and 
Roman  origins,  see:  "The  City  State"  (by  W.  Warde  Fowler,  Lon- 
don, 1893),  Chap.  II,  "The  Genesis  of  the  City-State,"  especially  pp. 
42-44  and  48-52. 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  135 

turn  by  the  federated  nation  or  commonwealth ;  merging 
successively  larger  and  larger  population  groups  under 
place-community  bonds.  Within  the  territorial  confines  of 
each  of  these  "place  groups"  mass  disability  and  sectional 
discrimination  have  disappeared,  though  class  struggle  per- 
sists. As  between  nations,  however,  mass  opposition  con- 
tinues up  to  the  present  to  interpose  its  barrier  to  a  free 
development  of  world  resources. 

The  nation-state  and  the  federated  commonwealth  did 
not,  however,  result  from  the  direct  and  progressive  ex- 
pansion of  the  city-states.  The  city-states  were  in  effect 
the  end  result  and  the  fine  flower  of  successive  and  con- 
nected steps  in  the  evolution  beginning  with  the  very  primi- 
tive, wandering,  kinship  tribe  and  culminating  in  the  civili- 
zation of  Athens.  But  the  city-states  in  their  eventual  per- 
fection were  the  expression  of  a  development  arrested 
from  further  growth  by  limitations  of  environment.  No- 
madic tribes  settled  down  to  agriculture,  village  communi- 
ties consolidated  to  enjoy  the  protection  of  a  local  citadel, 
infusion  of  new  blood  resulted  from  conquest  and  assimila- 
tion and  trade  contacts,  distinctly  urban  centres  grew  up 
at  sites  particularly  favoured  for  commercial  intercourse, 
regional  religion  and  the  wide  co-operation  necessary  for 
development  of  land  by  irrigation  enterprise  linked  up 
outlying  territories.  But  all  these  consolidating  agencies 
were  effective,  after  all,  over  only  a  comparatively  limited 
area,  and,  what  is  more  important,  applied  in  each  case 
only  to  regions  definitely  marked  off  from  other  lands  by 
physical  barriers  and  similarity  of  conditions  within  the 
boundaries  so  determined.  Thus  while  the  Nile  lands, 
Mesopotamia,   and  the  Italian   peninsula,   as  eventually 


136  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

consolidated  under  Rome,  were  relatively  extensive  terri- 
tories, in  contrast  with  those  of  the  Greek  plains  and  the 
coastal  territory  of  the  Phoenician  cities,  yet  in  each  of 
these  instances  the  environmental  situation  was  essentially 
like  over  all  the  parts  of  the  region  involved.  Geographic 
diversity,  differences  in  climate,  and  hence  of  the  agricul- 
tural production  which  was  the  chief  source  of  wealth  in 
those  days,  and  on  which  subsistence  depended,  was  lack- 
ing; and  this  similarity  marked  other  natural  resources 
as  well.  Hence  only  a  very  narrow  range  of  possibilities 
was  presented  for  the  development  of  domestic  commerce. 

Material  progress,  accordingly,  was  beset  by  definite 
environmental  limits,  and  once  these  had  been  reached 
human  energy  and  ambition  tended  to  strive  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  political  organization,  for  the  refinement  of  state- 
craft, and  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  and  letters.  The  in- 
tensiveness  of  the  application  to  those  pursuits,  and  per- 
haps the  particular  genius  of  the  peoples  that  practised 
them,  provided  the  world  with  a  very  rich  heritage  indeed ; 
but  it  is  a  legacy  that  resulted  in  part  because  of  the  failure 
of  the  uniform  environments  of  the  city-states  to  furnish 
material  opportunities  sufficiently  diverse  in  kind  to 
afford  scope  in  external  enterprise  for  the  precocious  in- 
tellectual attainments  of  those  ages.  The  modern  back- 
wardness of  the  areas  of  the  city-states  is  in  a  degree 
indicative  of  their  paucity  of  resources  for  supporting  an 
industrial  and  commercial  civilization. 

Moreover,  the  people  joined  up  in  the  larger  units  of  the 
city-states,  though  derived  from  originally  hostile  tribes, 
were,  nevertheless,  all  the  products  of  the  same  environ- 
ment; comprising  perhaps  a  unit  racial  stock  developed 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  137 

through  the  preserved  mutations  of  the  ages,  and  certainly, 
in  each  instance,  possessed  of  acquired  characteristics 
that  were  very  like  to  those  of  the  other  resident  tribes,  for 
the  habits  and  customs  of  all  must  have  been  in  general 
similar  to  permit  survival  in  the  same  kind  of  surround- 
ings. There  was  no  possibility,  therefore,  of  bringing  to- 
gether very  diverse  human  elements  in  the  consolidations 
that  were  original  to  the  formation  of  the  city-states. 

In  a  word,  the  narrow  and  uniform  environments  of 
the  several  city-states  seem  to  have  been  exploited  in  all 
their  possibilities  at  a  comparatively  early  date  by  popu- 
lation groups  that  were  also  very  uniform  in  type,  and 
thereafter  the  surroundings  failed  to  stimulate  men  to 
novel  external  enterprise.  In  consequence  of  this  stagna- 
tion the  order  of  society  tended  to  become  fixed  and  rigid. 
For,  while  a  place  and  community  loyalty  had  become  the 
fundamental  fact  of  coherence  to  the  groups  of  tribes 
merged  into  the  common  citizenship  of  the  city-states,  it 
must  also  be  realized  that  the  aristocratic  tradition  was 
perhaps  the  most  significant  feature  in  Greek  culture  and 
in  Egyptian  and  Roman  organization.  Kinship  had  lost 
its  potency  as  a  unifying  factor,  but  it  persisted  as  the 
basis  of  class  distinctions,  has  indeed  survived,  though  with 
steadily  diminishing  effectiveness,  until  now  in  this 
relation. 

In  effect  the  city-states  were  administered  as  huge 
estates,  of  which  the  descendants  of  the  original  tribesmen 
who  had  founded  the  city  were  the  proprietors.  The 
founders  of  Athens,  for  example,  probably  did  not  migrate 
thither  in  a  body,  but  many  of  the  noble  families  no 
doubt   removed   almost   immediately   to  the  new  centre, 


138  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

because  residence  in  the  city  gave  them  the  opportunity 
of  concentrating  aristocratic  power.  Attica  had  been  di- 
vided among  four  tribes,  twelve  phratries,  and  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty  clans;  each  clan  having  as  its  nucleus  an 
aristocratic  family.  At  first  the  aristocrats  may  have  re- 
garded themselves  as  trustees,  simply,  of  the  common 
possessions,  though  they  must  have  already  held  land 
in  private  ownership,  for  the  population  then,  as  a  whole, 
was  comprised  almost  exclusively  of  tribesmen,  kinsfolk, 
who  also  were  all  entitled  to  some  share  in  the  estate, 
however  small.  As  time  passed  and  the  population,  greatly 
expanded  in  numbers,  became  more  heterogeneous  and  in- 
cluded, especially,  an  extremely  large  proportion  of  slaves, 
the  tribesmen  continued  to  rule,  to  comprise  the  citizen 
group,  while  the  nobles  among  them  used  their  wealth  to 
secure  power  and  privilege.  The  oligarchic  domination 
which  resulted  was  later  broken  up  by  the  redivision  of 
the  state,  for  administrative  purposes,  into  denies,  or  town- 
ships, on  a  regional  basis  and  by  including  as  citizens  of 
these  demes  every  free  Athenian,  other  residents  of  Attica, 
and  enfranchised  slaves,  many  of  whom  had  not  before 
been  inscribed  on  the  registers.  By  this  measure  the  kin- 
ship bond  was  very  completely  broken  through  and  over  in 
so  far  as  Athens  was  concerned.  But  as  there  were  at  that 
time  perhaps  100,000  slaves  as  against  a  free  population  of 
about  135,000,  it  is  evident  that  the  governmental  tribula- 
tions of  the  Athenian  civic  group  were  in  the  nature  of 
family  debates  and  quarrels  in  regard  to  the  rules  of 
procedure,  division  of  revenue,  authority  and  prestige 
in  the  management  of  the  joint  estate.  In  ancient  Egypt, 
essentially  similar  conditions  prevailed.     Servile  depen- 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  139 

dents  did  the  actual  work  necessary  to  obtaining  a  subsis- 
tence from  the  environment  for  all  the  population  in  both 
Egypt  and  Attica.  The  Athenians  lived  the  "good  life" 
and  disputed  about  the  division  of  the  product  of  industry 
and  commerce. 

These  generalizations  are  broad  and  hence  needful  of 
a  variety  of  qualifications  in  application  to  particular  in- 
stances at  specified  times.  Nevertheless  they  express  the 
significant  fact,  which  is  that  the  citizens  of  the  city-states 
as  a  body  comprised  a  master-group,  of  high  and  low  de- 
gree indeed,  with  regard  to  comparative  wealth  and  power, 
but  nevertheless  all  looking  within  the  state  for  their  par- 
ticular emoluments.  It  was  an  essential  requirement  that 
the  city-state  should  be  self-sufficing,  complete  in  itself 
and  adequate  in  every  respect  for  its  population.  In  the 
modern  nation  the  slave  status  does  not  exist  and  prac- 
tically every  individual  resident  in  the  territory  of  the 
nation  is  engaged,  as  an  independent  unit,  in  some  gainful 
pursuit,  in  functioning  as  a  worker  in  exploiting  the  natu- 
ral resources  of  the  country,  and  in  meeting,  through  com- 
merce and  manufacture,  the  multitudinous  wants  of  the 
whole  population.  The  modern  citizen  engages  in  politics 
only  as  a  secondary  and  incidental  business  or,  as  in  the 
case  of  some  few,  as  a  member  of  a  professional  group. 
The  class  struggle  is  between  the  wealthy  and  the  poor 
and  involves  all  of  the  population.  Within  the  nation 
individual  citizens  compete  on  equal  terms  for  economic 
advantage  and  civil  advancement,  except  as  inherited  cap- 
ital makes  for  disparity.  Unequal  distribution  of  wealth 
within  the  nation  occasions  political  agitation  and  internal 
disorders,  but  such  dissension  in  no  way  affects  the  com- 


140  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

plete  solidarity  of  the  group  in  endeavours  to  maintain  its 
prestige  and  to  obtain  a  differential  advantage  in  its  rela- 
tions with  other  nationalities,  and  in  preventing  the  gov- 
ernmental organizations  of  the  foreigners  from  deriving 
advantage  of  any  kind  from  the  national  domain.  If  not 
in  exactly  the  same  way,  nevertheless  in  much  the  same 
spirit  that  the  citizens  of  the  city-state  utilized  slave  labour 
to  secure  for  themselves  the  "good  life,"  the  modern  nation, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  is  striving  to  get  from  other 
nations  more  than  it  is  willing  to  give  in  return,  or  in  some 
other  way  to  outdistance  its  rivals  to  their  disadvantage. 

The  international  rivalry  which  has  therefore  developed, 
and  which  has  resulted  in  international  anarchy,  is  mani- 
fested in  various  ways.  Primarily  it  finds  expression  in 
endeavours  to  preserve  the  home  market  from  the  competi- 
tion of  goods  produced  abroad.  Curiously  enough,  there 
is  little  or  no  objection  to  the  establishment  of  industries 
on  native  soil  by  foreign  individuals  or  corporations,  and 
through  the  investment  of  foreign  capital.  The  profits  re- 
sulting from  the  sale,  without  let  or  hindrance,  of  goods  so 
produced  may  be  sent  abroad  indeed;  but  similar  goods, 
originating  outside  the  country,  are  prevented  altogether 
or  in  part  from  access  to  the  home  market  by  the  handi- 
cap of  import  taxes.  This  is  in  line  with  the  generally 
approved  policy,  harking  back  to  the  time  of  the  city-states, 
of  making  the  nation  as  nearly  as  possible  self-contained ; 
of  producing  all  essential  commodities  within  the  national 
boundaries.  That  a  self-sufficing  programme  is  impossible 
in  respect  of  many  materials,  even  for  nations  possessing 
wide  territories  and  varied  resources,  gives  rise  to  ambi- 
tions to  hold  and  to  exploit  outlying  regions,  peopled  by 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  141 

groups  low  in  the  scale  of  industrial  development ;  in  other 
words,  gives  rise  to  the  imperial  impulse.  In  backward 
countries  which  are  politically  independent,  there  is  com- 
petition for  trade  and  investment  between  representatives 
of  the  different  industrial  nations,  and  this  competition 
often  takes  the  form  of  a  struggle  to  secure  preferential 
treatment  in  the  matter  of  concessions  and  other  enterprise 
of  exploitation. 

That  many  of  the  expedients,  to  which  resort  is  had 
in  endeavours  to  attain  the  discomfiture  of  rival  nations, 
are  futile,  and  to  a  degree  often  that  the  very  end  sought 
is  defeated,  does  not  alter  the  fact  that,  whereas  mutual 
toleration  and  the  recognition  of  equality  in  pursuit  of 
economic  opportunity  exist  b&ivveen  all  numbers  of  the 
large  and  diverse  populations  of  many  modern  nations, 
these  groups,  as  units,  maintain  a  jealous,  suspicious, 
and  openly  hostile  attitude  toward  each  other.  The  tribe 
has  been  expanded  into  the  nation,  the  coherence  and  loyal- 
ties of  nations  may  be  referred  to  the  soil  and  are  no 
longer  based  on  kinship,  but  despite  these  changes  the 
animosity  of  one  group  for  another  has  been  abated  only 
in  the  matter  of  contacts  between  foreigners  as  individuals. 
Each  loyalist  group  still  conceives  itself  as  at  odds  with 
all  the  rest,  and  is  resentful,  not  only  of  every  act  and 
policy  of  other  nations  that  is  considered  detrimental  to 
its  own  interests,  but  also,  indeed,  inclines  to  regard  every 
superior  attainment  of  rival  groups  with  jealousy. 

The  possibility  and  the  existence  of  friendly  business, 
and  even  social  intercourse,  between  individual  foreigners 
indicates  that  the  anarchy  of  modern  international  rela- 
tions is  not  descended  from  the  old  personal  antagonisms 


142  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

of  tribesmen.  Neither  can  the  wider  territorial  unity  of 
modern  national  organization  be  ascribed  directly  to  the 
expansion  of  the  city-state.  Personal  tolerance  of  the 
foreigner  on  the  one  hand,  and  ethnical  diversification, 
numerical  increase,  and  territorial  expansion  of  the  co- 
herent unit  group  on  the  other,  have  both  resulted  from 
the  intervention,  between  the  city-state  of  ancient  days 
and  the  modern  nation,  of  a  transitional  status  of  military 
empire.  Moreover,  the  idea  of  conquest,  domination,  and 
exploitation,  through  tribute-compulsion,  of  distant  peo- 
ples and  widely  extended  areas  did  not  originate  with  the 
city-state.  The  notion  of  extended  empire  was  repugnant, 
indeed,  to  the  citizens  of  the  city-state,  for  it  clashed  with 
their  ideal  of  a  self-contained  and  self-sufficing  community, 
possessed  of  a  distinctive  culture.  That  the  city-states 
later  adopted  imperialistic  policy  was  owing  in  part  to 
compulsion,  in  that  self-preservation  made  it  necessary, 
in  part  to  the  ambition  of  individuals  among  the  protoc- 
racy  who  saw  in  empire  and  world  conquest  the  possibility 
of  becoming  truly  supreme  over  all  men.  The  first  consoli- 
dations of  peoples  and  territory  into  wide  empires  were 
brought  about,  however,  by  a  different  succession  of  geo- 
graphic influences  than  those  that  found  their  culmination 
in  the  establishment  of  the  city-state.  The  modern  nation 
is  representative  of  survivals  from  both  the  geographic 
conditions  that  brought  the  city-state  into  being  and  those 
that  made  for  the  development  of  military  empire.  What, 
then,  were  the  circumstances  that  led  to  empire  formation  ? 
Adjacent  to  the  irrigable  desert-edge  lands  of  the  Nile 
and  in  Mesopotamia,  anciently  occupied  by  fisher-agricul- 
tural folk,  are  steppe  and  desert  lands  of  wide  extent. 


ANAKCHY  VS.  AMITY  143 

On  the  strictly  desert  lands,  almost  completely  lacking 
vegetation,  man  can  not  find  subsistence  and  the  inhab- 
itants of  desert  areas,  except  a  few  nomadic  traders,  are 
settled  on  scattered  oases,  where  ground  water  emerges 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  make  it  possible  for  the  date  palm 
to  flourish  and  grass  to  grow.  Cultural  development  un- 
der oasis  conditions  has  been  similar  to  that  of  the  irrigable 
desert-edge  lands,  but  the  restrictions  imposed  by  isola- 
tion and  the  narrow  confines  of  the  habitable  areas  limit 
advance.  Caravan  trade,  anciently  and  now,  in  some  meas- 
ure mitigates  the  lack  of  variety  and  paucity  of  resources 
characteristic  of  the  hemmed-in,  oasis  environment,  but, 
at  best,  population  growth  in  oases,  dependent  as  it  is  on 
the  ultimate  degree  of  exploitation  of  the  limited  water 
supply  available,  must  have  practically  ceased  soon  after 
the  settlement  of  such  territories. 

It  is  otherwise  with  the  steppe  lands.  Their  expanses 
are,  by  contrast  with  the  narrow  confines  of  the  oases, 
limitless;  and,  even  if  their  resources  are  in  totality 
meagre,  steppe  lands  do  border  on  the  more  productive 
irrigable  and  rain-forest  lands;  so  that  contact  with  a 
wider  environment  is  facilitated  for  the  steppe  dweller. 
Man  could  not,  however,  have  existed  in  the  steppe  lands 
as  a  horde.  Probably  only  after  the  hunter  tribe  had  been 
evolved  did  he  emerge  from  the  tropical  forest  onto  the 
desert-edge  and  steppe  lands.  On  the  grassy  plains  of 
the  steppe,  man,  even  as  a  tribal  hunter,  was  severely 
handicapped.  The  herbivorous  animals  of  the  steppe  en- 
vironment are  fleet  of  foot ;  their  natural  enemies,  as  the 
lion  and  the  puma,  are  brown-tinted  and  of  crouching 
gait,  to  suit  them  for  stalking  in  dry  grasses.    Man,  erect 


144  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

of  posture  and  capable  of  only  slow  movement  in  com- 
parison with  these  beasts,  could  scarcely  subsist  on  his 
kill  in  such  a  habitat.  On  the  other  hand  man  can  not  eat 
grass. 

The  alternative  was  to  tame  and  to  domesticate  the  her- 
bivorous animals,  to  become  a  parasite  on  their  existence. 
The  mare,  the  sheep,  the  camel,  and  the  goat  were  made 
to  furnish  man  with  milk  and  meat,  fibre  and  leather. 
But  when  once  man  had  established  himself  in  a  pastoral 
life  on  the  steppe,  his,  then,  tribal  organization  had  at- 
tained all  that  the  environment  was  capable  of  sustaining. 
Agriculture  was  impossible  because  the  herd  was  constantly 
on  the  move  to  fresh  pasture.  Though  the  ass,  horse,  and 
camel  could  be  pressed  into  service  as  burden  bearers, 
material  possessions  beyond  a  certain  minimum  of  tenting 
and  utensils  were  only  impediments.  The  few  essential 
commodities  could,  moreover,  be  replaced  at  one  point  as 
well  as  another,  and  their  manufacture  was  so  simple  that 
each  member  of  the  tribe  was  entirely  competent  to  re- 
plenish his  own  outfit.  The  life  of  the  pastoral  nomads 
affords  plenty  of  leisure  for  the  handicraft  industry  this 
involved,  hence  there  was  no  occasion  or  advantage  in 
division  of  labour  or  specialization  of  production,  except 
as  determined  by  sex,  and  no  basis  for  interchange  of  com- 
modities between  different  pastoral  tribes.  Avoidance  of 
land  already  grazed  over  tended  further  to  keep  tribes 
apart  and  made  for  a  common  acceptance  of  limits  to  the 
range  of  each  group.  Land-ownership  of  this  indefinite 
kind  there  could  be,  also  recognition  of  possession  of 
springs  and  water-holes.  On  the  other  hand  the  limits  of 
the  range  also  limited  the  size  of  the  herd  and  this  in  turn 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  145 

that  of  the  tribe.  Hence  one  group  could  expand  only  at 
the  expense  of  another.  If,  through  pestilence  or  cold,  one 
tribe  lost  part  of  its  herd,  the  loss  could  be  made  good 
only  by  raiding  the  cattle  of  some  other  clan.  Robbery, 
in  the  code  of  the  steppe-land  nomad,  is,  therefore,  a  vir- 
tue; and  to  be  weak  is  to  succumb.  The  habitat  itself 
offers  little  encouragement  either  for  the  development  of 
tolerance  or  for  the  concentration  and  indefinite  expansion 
of  population. 

But,  even  so,  the  nomads  seem  early  to  have  been  im- 
pelled to  seek  contact  with  peoples  outside  their  own  en- 
vironment. Milk,  butter,  curds,  and  meat  are  a  narrow 
range  of  diet  for  even  an  abstemious  Bedouin.  Accord- 
ingly the  pastoral  nomad  resorts  to  the  border  agricultural 
lands,  or  to  the  desert  oases,  to  exchange  hides,  wool,  male 
colts,  rams  and,  in  particular  localities,  desert  salt,  for 
grain,  implements  of  iron,  and  fine  clothing.  If  trade 
contacts  are  not  easy  for  all  the  tribes  of  a  grassland  dis- 
trict, or  if  the  products  of  the  bordering  agricultural  lands 
on  its  two  sides  differ,  a  caravan  trade  develops ;  conducted 
by  nomads  indeed,  but  probably  recruited  largely  from 
those  of  their  groups  situated  nearest  the  agricultural 
regions.  Such  caravans  are  in  the  nature  of  expeditions, 
for  while  they  may  be  granted  a  kind  of  safe-conduct,  it 
is  well  to  be  armed  and  to  travel  in  as  large  a  group  as 
possible.  Commonly  also,  the  goods  transported  by  cara- 
van are  carried  only  a  step  of  the  journey  by  one  group  of 
traders.  Nevertheless  caravan-trade  relations  undoubtedly 
tend  to  establish  the  basis  on  which  co-operative  effort 
by  all  the  nomad  groups  of  a  wide  district  may  be  initiated 
when  occasion  arises. 


146  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

The  life  of  the  pastoral  nomad  is,  and  always  has  heen, 
hard.  Necessity  constantly  presses,  and  any  lack  in 
the  narrow  range  of  resources  causes  the  greatest  pangs; 
the  food  supply  is  limited.  At  best  meat  is  afforded  only 
sparingly.  If,  then,  pasture  fails  and  the  herds  decrease, 
or  undue  cold  causes  the  animals  to  perish  in  numbers, 
famine  conditions  follow  almost  immediately.  The  better 
watered  or  lower-lying  agricultural  lands  afford  the  only 
possible  escape  from  starvation,  and  irruption  of  the 
nomads  results. 

Of  the  several  contingencies  under  which  a  serious 
diminution  of  the  flocks  of  the  dwellers  on  the  steppes 
might  come  about,  that  of  general  failure  of  the  pasture 
lands,  due  to  drouth,  would  probably  bring  in  its  wake 
most  widespread  distress  in  the  grassland  domain.  Cold 
and  pestilence  would  tend  to  be  localized.  Moreover,  re- 
curring periods  of  drouth,  perhaps  even  progressive  desic- 
cation, apparently  have  been  the  lot  of  the  desert  and 
steppe  lands  of  the  Old  World  in  prehistoric  and  early 
historic  days.  In  fact  ample  evidence  of  climatic  change 
toward  greater  aridity  is  afforded  by  the  present-day 
physiography  and  human  antiquities  of  the  desert  and 
steppe  lands  of  those  areas. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  deduce  the  effects  of  continued  and 
increasing  drouth  on  the  followers  of  flocks  in  a  given 
region  of  steppe.  If  the  drouth  made  itself  felt  over  all 
the  area  rather  uniformly,  a  general  foment  would  result, 
strife  between  the  nomadic  bands  would  be  accentuated. 
If  those  parts  of  the  nomad  domain  farthest  removed  from 
the  agricultural  lands  suffered  first,  and  such  would  be 
the   logical   sequence  if   the  climatic   change  to   greater 


ANAKCHY  VS.  AMITY  147 

drouth  were  progressive,  there  would  be  notable  pressure 
from  within  the  steppe  lands  toward  their  borders.  The 
dwellers  on  the  edge  of  the  steppe  lands  and  the  traders 
best  know  the  abundance  of  the  agricultural  plains.  From 
among  their  numbers  leaders  rise,  hitherto  unknown  tribal 
coalitions  form,  and  shortly  the  whole  nomadic  horde 
pours  out  to  overwhelm  the  sedentary  population  of  the 
farms  and  cities.  The  nomads  are  accustomed  to  move, 
their  warfare  is  offensive  rather  than  defensive,  they  have 
everything  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  but  life  in  the  adven- 
ture, and  that  would  be  miserably  forfeit  to  starvation  in 
any  event  if  they  stayed.  Every  advantage  is  with  the 
invaders;  they  penetrate  swiftly  and  far,  their  military 
conquest  is  complete  in  a  short  time. 

It  was  the  fate  of  the  early  metropolitan  centres  and 
lands,  both  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia,  to  suffer  conquest  by 
nomads.  The  policy  of  the  nomadic  invaders  seems  to  have 
been,  above  all  other  considerations,  to  displace  the  ruling 
classes  and  themselves,  instead,  to  occupy  the  official 
places  and  to  exact  tribute  and  later,  taxes,  from  the  rest 
of  the  population.  Thus  the  Hyksos,  or  Shepherd  King, 
conquest  of  Egypt  first  established  dynastic  rule  over 
the  whole  length  of  the  Nile  country.  The  earlier  city 
centres  were  thus  welded  into  empires  by  the  nomads.  The 
nomads  were  numerically  few,  and  their  rule  over  the 
mass  of  the  subjugated  people  was,  perhaps,  no  more  harsh 
than  that  of  the  equally  small  bureaucracy  originating  in 
the  petty  city-states  that  preceded  their  empires.  It  is 
probable,  accordingly,  that  the  conquests  of  the  nomads 
led  to  a  wider  toleration,  because  larger  groups  of  the 
inarticulate    were,    by    their    domination,    amalgamated 


148  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

under  one  political  regime.  If  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  the 
rapid  and  complete  establishment  of  overlordship  by  a 
few  newcomers  over  so  wide  and  populous  territories,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  turn  to  the  suzerainty  of  the  English 
over  India  and  Egypt  for  an  analogy  sufficiently  similar  to 
make  the  possibility  clear.  The  invaders,  moreover, 
brought  new  ideas  with  them,  thus  the  hieroglyphic  system 
and  a  new  art  into  Egypt;  so  that  while  the  time  of  the 
clash  was  one  of  devastation  and  setback  of  culture,  in  the 
end,  unification,  new  blood,  and  new  ideas,  perhaps,  more 
than  offset  the  losses  sustained.  It  is  significant,  too,  that 
the  coming  of  the  nomads  into  Egypt  was  over  the  route 
from  the  east  into  the  region  of  Thebes.  As  this  area  had 
profited  earlier  because  it  was  at  the  crossing  of  trade 
routes,  so  its  situation  also  gave  it  first  use  of  the  new 
ideas  of  the  invaders. 

In  time  the  erstwhile  exacting  and  energetic  conquer- 
ors yielded  to  the  comparative  ease  and  luxury  of  the 
sedentary-agricultural  environment  into  which  they  had 
thrust  themselves,  and  tended  to  become  an  effete,  and 
altogether  parasitic,  officialdom.  Hence  it  was  not  difficult 
for  competent  natives  to  secure  many  of  the  lesser  govern- 
mental posts,  for  the  overlords  could  only  be  secure  by 
having  efficient  helpers.  Meanwhile,  also,  the  conquerors 
intermarried  with,  and  became  absorbed  into,  the  mass 
of  the  population.  The  conquests,  however,  thrust  upon 
the  subject  peoples  a  broader  unity  than  Lad  hitherto 
existed,  and  compelled  a  mingling  and  co-operation  of 
groups  that  had  previously  been  intent  only  upon  preserv- 
ing an  independent  existence.  Their  self-determination 
prejudices  were  effaced  by  the  subjection  all  had  to  endure. 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  149 

The  major  difficulties  and  disabilities  of  life  were  now 
suffered  by  all  in  common,  and  relief  was  only  to  be  had 
by  forming  coalitions  through  which  concessions  could 
be  demanded  from  the  alien  overlords.  It  was  particularly 
necessary  to  insist  that  government  should  recognize  the 
need  for  maintaining  prosperous  conditions  among  the 
inhabitants  of  all  the  empire,  that  is,  over  wide  districts. 
Progress  in  this  direction  was  indeed  .slow;  all  the  cen- 
turies intervening  between  the  time  of  the  first  empires 
and  the  present  have  been  needed  to  secure  the  acceptance 
of  the  ultimate  principle,  that  government  should  function 
in  the  interest  of  the  majority  of  the  governed,  and  not 
for  the  benefit  of  a  dominating  minority,  much  less  for 
the  advantage,  solely,  of  a  class  of  nobles. 

But  despite  the  slowness  in  realizing  its  end  result,  the 
experience  of  empire  taught  mankind  the  great  lesson  of 
the  advantages  to  be  derived  by  all  the  community  from 
correlated  effort  and  free  intercourse  between  great  num- 
bers of  people,  spread  over  wide  territories.  And  that 
knowledge  has  endured.  Empires  grew  until  they  com- 
passed all  the  known  earth  in  their  domain;  and  fell 
apart  again,  in  accordance  with  the  genius  of  the  leaders 
of  the  particular  times.  For  the  political  organization 
then  was  in  a  high  degree  artificial  and  had  little  geo- 
graphic basis.  Yet  the  mere  existence  of  the  empires  of 
Alexander  and  of  Rome  served  to  establish  relationships 
between  all  the  peoples  of  the  known  world  of  those  times, 
and  these  connections  were  not  allowed  to  lapse  altogether 
even  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Development  of  true  nationalism,  of  the  sense  of  unity 
of  peoples  as  dependent  on  place,  with  reference  to  exten- 


150  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

sive    regions,    instead    of    the    community    consciousness 
hemmed  in  by  the  narrow  confines  of  a  city-state,  to  which 
degree  place-loyalty  had,  indeed,  been  achieved,  did  not, 
however,  result  immediately  from  the  integration  due  to 
empire  formation.      If  all  the  centuries  of  history   are 
taken  into  consideration  the  process  of  nationalization  may 
be  thought  of  as  having  proceeded  swiftly.    But  as  viewed 
from  the  present  nationalization  has  lagged,  and  at  times 
apparently  been  checked  altogether.    Yet  progress  toward 
the  realization  of  a  larger  nationalism  has  never  entirely 
ceased.     The  march  of  events  has  made  successively  for 
integration  and  welding  of  world  interests.     The  Phoe- 
nicians and  Vikings  initiated  ocean  navigation  and  the 
seas  have  become  the  highways  of  the  world  instead  of 
insuperable  barriers.     The  imposed  law  and  order  of  the 
Romans  was  an  advance  over  what  had  previously  been 
accomplished  in  empire  organization.     The  decline  of  the 
Roman  Empire  was  coincident  with  the  rise  of  the  great 
religions.     These  promised  at  first  to  unite  all  men  in  the 
service  of  God,  but  their  appeal  spent  itself  in  a  fury  of 
fanaticism.     The  barbarian  invasions  of  Europe  differed 
from  the  Oriental,  nomad  conquests,  and  those  of  the  lead- 
ers and  armies  from  the  city-states,  in  that  the  alien  in- 
truders into  the  West  comprised  vast  numbers.    The  sparse 
populations  of  the  widespread  plains  of  northern  Asia, 
when  converged  and  poured  as  through  a  funnel  mouth 
upon  the  narrow  peninsula  of  Europe,  constituted  a  human 
inundation.      The  movement   was   in    part   a   migratory 
infiltration,  and  in  any  event  the  hordes  could  be  accom- 
modated only  as  they  settled  on  the  land  and  not  simply  by 
their   assuming  the   governmental   functions,    as   earlier 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  151 

conquerors  had  done.  All  the  Middle  Ages  period  of 
chaos  was  required  to  permit  of  the  readjustment  this 
great    relocation   and   intermixture   of   peoples    involved. 

Realization  of  nationalism  was  delayed  by  the  long 
continuance  of  an  essentially  military  organization  of  peo- 
ples. This  in  turn  was  owing  to  the  relatively  slight  im- 
portance of  industry  in  community  life  until  compara- 
tively recent  times.  As  long  as  agricultural  lands  and 
their  produce  constituted  the  chief  form  of  wealth,  the 
raid,  yielding  plunder  in  kind,  could  be  made  a  profitable 
enterprise.  Again,  it  was  only  as  facilities  for  swift 
communication  and  transport  over  long  distances  were 
developed  that  industry  could  come  into  its  modern 
importance. 

In  other  words,  the  direct  evolution  of  nationalism,  in 
unbroken  sequence,  dates  from  the  Middle  Ages.  Since 
then  peoples  have  come  more  and  more  to  recognize  their 
entity  to  consist  in  their  being  occupant  of  different  terri- 
tories of  the  land  surface  of  the  earth.  The  Crusades 
relinked  the  West  and  East  in  commercial  intercourse, 
and  fostered  the  revival  of  civic  consciousness  in  the 
trading  communities  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  Period 
of  Discoveries  opened  up  the  temperate  lands  of  the 
New  World  to  colonization,  and  of  the  tropical  areas  to 
exploitation  by  Western  nationalism.  The  American 
Revolution  and  the  French  Revolution  compelled  the  recog- 
nition of  the  proprietary  rights  of  the  resident  population 
to  the  yield  of  the  soil  and  the  fruits  of  industry,  and  as 
opposed  to  priority  demands  on  its  income  by  either  a 
governing  group  or  noble  class.  The  Age  of  Steam,  and 
the  Industrial  Revolution  it  ushered  in,  so  multiplied  the 


152  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

productiveness  of  human  effort  as  to  make  a  general  in- 
crease in  material  well-being  possible,  and,  through  the 
opportunity  for  education  included  as  part  of  this  new 
prosperity  of  peoples,  the  general  level  of  intelligence  has 
been  much  raised.  The  bulk  of  the  Western  peoples  are 
approaching  the  fitness  for  nationality  once  possessed  by 
the  citizen  group  of  the  city-states. 

But  the  world  is  yet  far  from  the  attainment  of  the  per- 
fection of  national  organization  that  should  be  possible. 
The  average  citizen  is  conscious  of  the  limitations  geog- 
raphy imposes  on  national  development  and  expansion, 
but,  because  he  is  both  unknowing  of  the  import  of  these 
limitations  on  national  life,  and  unwilling  to  accept  their 
existence  as  circumscribing  national  ambitions,  the  na- 
tion collectively  seeks  to  escape  them  by  promoting  poli- 
cies and  adopting  expedients  that  are  a  constant  source  of 
international  friction  and  a  handicap  to  progress  toward 
an  ideal  adjustment  of  world  relations. 

Where,  however,  unity  of  people  and  place  has  been 
achieved  there  has  also  developed  a  sense  of  identity  of 
interests  co-extensive  with  quite  well-defined  geographical 
areas.  The  self-conscious  group  firmly  seated  on  its 
land  conceives  and  organizes  itself  into  a  sovereign 
state  with  a  country  to  defend,  and  a  national  honour  to 
preserve.  Territorial  confines  mark  off  a  common  pa- 
triotism which  is  independent  of  differences  in  political 
opinion.  Inside  the  borders  of  each  nation  there  is  free 
competition  in  taking  advantage  of  opportunities  to  achieve 
economic  success,  the  distinction  of  leadership,  and  civil 
advancement.  Internal  friction  and  self-determination 
tendencies  do  in  places  become  apparent,  but  only  as  a 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  153 

dominant  majority  attempts  to  fix  disabilities,  usually  po- 
litical, on  some  minority  group  resident  within  the  national 
territory,  but  set  apart,  most  frequently  by  language  or 
religion,  from  the  more  numerous  element  of  the  popula- 
tion. The  minority  group  is  then  irked  by  the  restraints 
and  disqualifications  that  the  majority  imposes  on  it, 
the  while  the  politically  stronger  class  suspects  the  minor- 
ity of  putting  the  tie  of  language  or  of  religion  above  that 
of  common  residence  in  the  land  and  of  seeking  through 
coherence,  because  of  these,  nationally  spurious,  ties  to 
gain  ends  which  will  be  detrimental  to  the  country  as  a 
whole.  Moreover,  these  difficulties  arise  only  where  the 
separatist  group  is  compactly  settled  in  some  one  or  more 
sections  of  the  national  domain,  an  area  either  large  enough 
or  set  off  distinctively  enough  from  the  rest  of  the  country 
to  make  secession  a  possibility.  The  situation  of  Ireland 
with  reference  to  Great  Britain,  and  of  Lower  Canada 
and  its  French-speaking,  Catholic  people  to  the  rest  of 
Canada,  may  be  contrasted  in  this  connection  with  the 
relations  of  the  Walloons  and  Flemish  in  Belgium,  and 
of  the  French,  Germans,  and  Italians  in  Switzerland. 

At  bottom  it  is  a  class  distinction  which  makes  it  diffi- 
cult for  the  minority  groups  to  share  fully  in  the  common 
loyalty  to  the  land.  The  lesser  groups,  while  apparently 
marked  off  from  the  rest  of  the  population  only  by  differ- 
ence in  language  and  religion,  are  usually  at  a  disad- 
vantage, also,  because  of  inferior  economic  and  industrial 
status,  hence  are  subject  to  exploitation,  which  must  be 
suffered,  but  is,  nevertheless,  resented.  And  it  may  be 
pointed  out,  further,  that  this  inferior  economic  status  is 
itself  the  result  of  adherence  to  the  unnational  institution, 


154  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

custom,  or  attribute.  The  American  South,  from  time 
before  the  Civil  War  until  very  recent  years,  felt  itself 
thus  a  poor  relation  housed  under  the  same  national  roof- 
tree  with  the  rich  North.  Eventual  resignation  to  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  and  concurrent  accumulation  of  capi- 
tal with  the  industrial  development  this  made  possible, 
have  eliminated  this  feeling  of  national  disability  in  the 
South  to  a  very  considerable  extent  during  the  last  few 
decades.  In  fact  the  United  States  is  now  unique  among 
nations  in  that,  with  unparalleled  extent  of  territory,  mag- 
nitude and  diversity  of  resources,  and  heterogeneity  of 
population,  there  is  complete  unity  of  national  spirit 
among  all  its  inhabitants,  and  equality  of  economic  oppor- 
tunity for  any  of  them  in  each  of  its  many  varied  regions. 

The  national  success  of  the  United  States  was  first  as- 
sured by  the  guarantee  of  the  Federal  Constitution  that 
there  may  be  no  sectional  or  class  discriminations  within 
its  territories.  The  fact  that  steadfast  maintenance  of  this 
principle,  throughout  all  the  period  of  expansion  of  the 
United  States  on  the  continent,  and  that  its  application, 
now,  even  to  outlying  tropical  islands,  has  not  worked 
harm,  but,  on  the  contrary,  has  brought  about  unfailing 
growth  in  prosperity  and  well-being  to  American  citizens, 
despite  extension  of  the  principle  of  equality  of  economic 
and  political  opportunity  over  wider  and  wider  areas  and 
more  diverse  populations,  proves  that  herein  is  contained 
the  essential  basis,  both  for  the  fullest  realization  of 
nationality,  and  for  the  dissipation  of  international 
discords. 

What  is  involved,  fundamentally,  is  recognition  of  the 
truth  that   all  mankind  will   profit   most  by  permitting 


ANARCHY  VS.  AMITY  155 

and  encouraging  the  free  and  complete  development  of  all 
parts  of  the  earth.  The  only  restriction  that  needs  to  be 
attached  to  this  dictum  is  that  appropriate  measures  be 
taken,  wherever  and  whenever  needed,  to  suppress  morally 
evil  practices  that  individual  or  corporate  groups  may 
initiate,  or  attempt  to  perpetuatej  in  the  progress  of  this 
development,  for  their  private  gain.  The  regions  of  the 
earth  as  a  whole  are  the  heritage  of  mankind,  and  it  can 
serve  no  good  purpose  to  waste  the  energies  of  the  human 
race  by  endeavouring  to  secure,  through  artificial  re- 
straints, the  utilization  of  a  given  region  for  a  purpose  to 
which  it  is  less  well  adapted  than  some  other  area,  simply 
because  the  territory  better  suited  to  produce  a  given  com- 
modity, or  to  be  the  scene  of  certain  activities,  is  situated 
in  alien  country.  At  most  the  policy  of  restriction  can 
only  serve  to  preserve  and  perpetuate,  at  the  height  of  de- 
velopment it  may  have  gained,  an  established  governmental 
regime,  but  this  only  at  a  disproportionate  cost  to  human 
advancement.  That  farming  has  gone  into  a  decline  in 
the  New  England  hills  or  that  the  mining  of  the  rich 
Lake  Superior  ores  has  caused  the  extraction  of  the 
meagre  Clinton  beds  of  iron  ore  to  be  abandoned,  has  not 
spelled  disaster  either  to  New  England  or  to  Pennsyl- 
vania or  to  the  United  States  as  a  whole.  When  the  earth 
produces  all  that  it  is  capable  of  being  made  to  yield,  by 
application  of  the  best  technology  of  the  time,  all  men 
will  be  served  best  and  most  abundantly. 

Only  one  danger,  then,  threatens  national  life,  and  that 
is  the  possibility  of  overbreeding  of  the  underfit.  The 
Dutch  have  attacked  this  problem,  and  the  results  they 
have  already  attained  indicate  that  it  is  surprisingly  easy 


156  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

to  raise  the  average  standard  of  physical  and  mental  fitness 
of  large  population  groups.  If  the  Dutch  results  can  be 
duplicated  generally  there  need  be  no  fear  of  overpopula- 
tion and  reduction  of  standards  of  living.  An  informed 
and  foresighted  body  of  citizens  will  take  ample  precau- 
tion that  there  is  improvement,  rather  than  recession,  with 
regard  to  the  ampleness  and  security  of  physical  life,  and 
of  opportunity  for  intellectual  growth. 

It  is  entirely  possible  that  there  can  be  a  commonwealth 
of  nations,  each  unit  of  which  can  preserve  its  individual 
culture,  the  while,  in  association,  inheriting  the  earth  in 
amity.  As  long  as  each  nation  remains  intolerant  of  the 
just  growth  and  ambitions  of  other  nations,  so  long  there 
will  be  international  anarchy ;  international  accord  will  be 
got  by  promoting  the  utilization  of  all  the  world's  resources 
for  the  common  benefit  of  all  peoples.  The  great  problems 
that  face  humanity  really  are,  how  may  this  utilization  be 
best  and  most  efficiently  brought  about  in  both  the  tem- 
perate and  the  tropical  lands. 


CHAPTER  VI 

INDEPENDENCE   OR   INTERDEPENDENCE    OP   NATIONS 

Where  nationhood  has  been  realized  through  the  actual 
possession  of  place,  the  homeland  of  a  group  of  people, 
there  will  also  have  been  established  a  state  or  government. 
States  exist  that  are  not  nations,  but  theirs  is  an  imposed 
government,  hence  not  representative  of  the  wishes  of  the 
occupants  of  the  territory  dominated.  Such  governments 
do  not  function — or  endeavour,  or  even  pretend,  to  func- 
tion— in  the  interests  of  the  whole  body  of  the  population 
forced  to  yield  to  their  authority.  But  in  the  true  na- 
tion-state, whether  the  form  of  government  is  democratic 
or  autocratic,  the  state  exists  primarily  to  guarantee  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  to  all  the  citizens, 
or  at  least  to  that  dominant,  conscious-of-kind  majority 
that  gives  the  nation  its  particular  complexion.  Indeed, 
it  has  been  argued  from  the  time  of  the  Greeks  that  the 
individual  only  finds  opportunity  for  self-expression  by 
being  a  member  of  the  nation  group  and  that  the  more  com- 
prehensive the  regulations  of  the  state  are,  the  greater  is 
the  personal  liberty  enjoyed  by  each  citizen. 

The  state,  then,  is  both  responsible  to,  and  responsible 
for,  the  people.  It  is  the  organization  of  the  group 
that,  by  its  existence  and  functioning,  leaves  the  indi- 
vidual   free    to    pursue    his    particular    course    in    life 

157 


158  INHERITING  THE  EAETH 

without  being  burdened  by  a  multitude  of  cares  that  would 
be  his  if  he  had  to  fend  for  himself  without  its  aid.  Gov- 
ernment is  the  creation  of  the  group  as  a  whole  to  care  for 
the  individual  in  the  group.  Accordingly  pro  patria, 
"Pour  la  France,"  are  phrases  with  a  very  real  meaning, 
in  that  they  express  the  individual's  realization  of,  his 
duty  to,  dependence  on,  and  love  for,  the  country  in  which 
he  lives  and  the  organization  of  the  group  of  which  he 
is  a  part,  and  which  gives  him  freedom  to  react  with  his 
environment. 

If  the  nature  of  the  state  be  so  conceived,  it  follows  that 
its  chief  function  should  be  to  promote  the  material  well- 
being  of  the  citizens  in  time  of  peace;  in  war  to  provide 
defence  against  aggression.  As  referred  to  the  bulk  of  the 
population,  the  degree  of  material  well-being  that  is 
realized,  or  the  adequateness  of  the  national  defence,  will, 
of  course,  much  depend  on  the  particular  political  theory 
after  which  the  state  is  organized,  and  on  the  actual  effi- 
ciency with  which  the  government  is  conducted.  Whether, 
however,  the  results  are  ill  or  well,  in  large  measure  it 
may  be  said  that,  a  given  people  only  gets  its  just  deserts ; 
for  if  the  nation-state  is  not  the  people's  own  creation  it  at 
least  persists  only  through  their  sufferance.  But  it  is  the 
peculiarity  of  those  nation-states,  particularly,  which  have 
most  fully  realized  their  own  environment  that  they  seek 
to  promote  the  well-being  of  the  home  group  at  the  expense 
of  other  national  groups ;  and,  if  not  that,  then  at  any  rate 
to  endeavour  to  prosper  in  competition  with,  and  dispro- 
portionately to,  other  nationalities. 

Governments  tend,  almost  always,  to  emphasize  and 
magnify  the  importance  of  their  foreign  policies;  since 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS      159 

reform  measures  at  home,  which  would  usually  be  of 
greater  significance  to  the  nation,  encounter  opposition 
and  are  generally  unpopular  because  some  one  or  other 
element  of  the  domestic  population  would  be  discommoded 
by  any  change  in  an  established  order.  What  ill  effect 
any  particular  foreign  policy  may  have  on  the  alien 
nationalities  is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  matter  of  little  conse- 
quence, as  long  as  it  is  not  of  a  nature  that  will  so 
directly  and  deeply  affect  the  foreigner's  interests  as  to 
lead  him,  perhaps,  to  resort  to  arms  to  secure  relief.  But 
while  war  may  not  immediately  impend,  it  is  this  attitude, 
that  prosperity  may  be  most  cheaply  attained  at  the  expense 
of,  or  through  the  disadvantage  of,  the  foreigner,  and  the 
formulation  of  national  devices  to  achieve  these  ends, 
that  prevent  international  co-operation  and  provoke  inter- 
national hostility. 

Once  the  organization  of  the  group  has  provided  for 
the  protection  of  the  life  and  liberty  of  the  individual, 
popular  education,  community  sanitation,  and  the  like 
public  services ;  further  enhancement  of  the  material  well- 
being  of  citizens  is  sought  through  governmental  measures 
for  the  promotion  of  the  general  economic  prosperity  of  the 
population.  The  fact  that  the  measures  adopted  are  almost 
exclusively  of  a  nature  designed  to  handicap  the  activities 
of  the  foreigner  indicates  the  existence  of  particular  na- 
tional advantages,  or  opportunities,  or  institutions,  that  it 
is  necessary  to  safeguard,  and  which  are  of  the  kind  that 
afford  the  native  an  economic  reward,  from  possession  of 
the  home  environment,  or  from  the  control,  by  his  nation, 
of  outlying  territory.  It  is,  therefore,  pertinent  to  an 
attempt  to  seek  out  the  difficulties  of  international  rela- 


160  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tions  to  make  inquiry  first  as  to  the  basis  of  national 
prosperity  at  home. 

Except  as  the  activities  of  their  peoples  are  restricted 
by  barriers  that  other  groups  interpose,  nations  prosper, 
under  the  modern  status  of  machine  industry  and  world 
interchange  ot  commodities,  only  in  accordance  with  their 
known  provision  of  natural  resources,  and  the  initiative, 
competence,  and  efficiency  of  the  group  as  producers  of 
goods.  If,  further,  it  is  assumed  that  two  national  groups 
are  of  equal  equipment  in  intelligence  and  training,  it 
follows  that  differences  in  their  respective  prosperities 
must  depend  solely  upon  the  comparative  natural  endow- 
ment of  their  several  territories;  which  one  writer  finds 
to  be  an  "almost  appalling  truth."  Continuing  the  same 
line  of  reasoning,  there  is  no  escape  from  the  conclusion 
that  the  nation  with  scantily  furnished  territory  can  never 
become  as  prosperous  as  one  more  richly  supplied  and 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  can  enhance  its  possibilities 
of  economic  development  by  self-imposed  regulations.1 

The  farmer  situated  on  a  sterile  soil  can  get  but  a 
meagre  return  for  his  efforts,  the  while  his  neighbour  who 
possesses  fertile  acres  becomes  affluent  as  a  result  of  equal 
toil.  Moreover,  the  less  fortunate  tiller  can  not  improve 
his  condition  by  refusing  to  buy  from  his  better  placed 
neighbour  his  need  of  some  crop  that  the  farmer  with  the 

1  A.  P.  Usher,  "Interpretations  of  Recent  Economic  Progress  in 
Germany,"  American  Historical  Review,  Vol.  XXIII,  p.  798,  1918. 
"It  is  to  be  hoped  that  economic  history  will  ever  avoid  the  ex- 
cesses of  a  mechanically  materialistic  interpretation  of  social 
growth,  but  it  would  seem  that  one  must  put  out  to  sea  without 
chart  or  compass  if  one  abandons  the  principle  that  economic  growth 
is  limited  by  natural  resources." 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       161 

better  land  can  grow  with  particularly  high  yield.  For,  as 
the  commodity  is  necessary  to  subsistence,  he  must,  as  an 
alternative,  struggle  exceedingly  to  produce  what  he  re- 
quires of  it  on  his  own  poor  fields. 

While  the  situation  with  reference  to  nations,  as  units, 
is  not  so  simple  as  the  relations  of  the  two  farmers,  the 
analogy  is  yet  sufficiently  close  to  fit  the  fundamental 
conditions  of  international  trade  and  exchange.  What 
some  nations  can  produce  easily  and  in  abundance  in  their 
territories  others  can  produce,  if  at  all,  in  equal  volume 
only  at  the  cost  of  much  greater  expenditure  of  effort,  if 
the  attempt  is  actually  made,  and  to  the  positive  detriment 
of  the  community.  For,  by  utilizing  the  same  amount  of 
effort,  raw  material,  land,  or  the  native  climatic  environ- 
ment in  the  production  of  some  commodity  that  permits  the 
effective  use  of  labour,  material,  and  place,  enough  of  a 
surplus  of  the  suited  industry  could  be  created  to  make 
exchange  for  the  lacking  product  doubly  advantageous ;  in 
that  home  resources  would  be  used  for  production  of  goods 
to  which  they  were  best  adapted  and  in  that  the  exchange 
would  stimulate  the  output  of  the  other  commodity  in  its 
best  suited  environment  also.  The  world  economy  of 
production  hereby  indicated  is  not,  however,  internation- 
ally appreciated;  hence  adoption  of  the  device  of  import 
duties  to  foster  the  development  of  varied  industries  at 
home,  in  some  measure  regardless  of  the  question  of  nat- 
ural advantage  or  disadvantage,  and  also  for  the  purpose 
of  impeding  the  progress  of  rival-nation  producers  as 
much  as  possible. 

While  the  general  argument  in  favour  of  free  trade  is 
perfectly  obvious  from  this  statement  it  is,  nevertheless, 


162  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

true  that  a  variety  of  considerations  must  be  taken  into 
account  before  it  can  be  stated  conclusively  that  free  trade 
is  the  best  policy  for  a  particular  nation  in  the  pursuit  of 
its  own  selfish  ends. 

The  first  effect  of  the  imposition  of  a  protective  duty 
by  any  country  will  be  to  diminish  the  total  volume  of 
imports  and,  specifically,  importation  of  the  commodities 
which  are  taxed.  If  the  sum  of  exports  is  not  at  the  same 
time  adversely  affected  in  similar  ratio  there  must  result 
an  inflow  of  money  to  offset  the  discrepancy  in  value  of 
the  imports  and  exports.  This  has  been  known  as  a 
"favourable  balance  of  trade."  The  inflow  of  money  makes 
for  higher  prices  in  the  country  imposing  the  duty,  and, 
assuming  that  the  effect  is  felt  uniformly  by  all  the  popu- 
lation, this  means  higher  money  incomes  generally.  Cor- 
respondingly the  countries  that  formerly  sent  the  imported 
goods  will  experience  lower  prices  and  lower  money  in- 
comes. The  advantage  that  may  accrue,  then,  from  this 
first  effect  of  the  imposition  of  a  protective  duty  will  be 
that  (because  of  the  higher  money  income  on  the  one 
side  and  the  lower  prices  on  the  other)  goods  can  be  secured 
abroad  at  a  lower  cost  than  before.  In  the  case  of  the 
duty-protected  commodities  the  advantage  goes  to  the 
government,  and  the  gain  should  be  experienced  by  the 
population  generally  in  lower  direct  taxes  or  in  expendi- 
tures for  the  improvement  of  public  facilities ;  if  the  im- 
ports are  materials  not  protected,  the  advantage  is  realized 
by  the  individual  purchaser.  But  these  relations  can  not 
obtain  indefinitely  between  any  two  countries,  each  of 
which  has  a  fixed  volume  of  production,  for  the  nation  with 
the  lower  price  range  will,  after  a  time,  be  unable  to  take 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       163 

in  the  excess  of  exports  from  the  protected  country.  The 
advantage  then  disappears  and  the  ultimate  world  effect 
of  application  of  protection  and  counter-protection  would 
be  simply  to  bring  about  an  irrational,  unscientific,  and 
ineffective  geographic  distribution  of  industry  generally. 
That  this  end  result  has  not,  however,  been  attained,  is 
due  primarily  to  the  fact  that  (and  this  is  important) 
the  very  great  expansion  in  the  total  volume  of  world 
trade,  in  modern  times,  has  more  than  offset  the  effect  of 
specific  trade  barriers  in  determining  the  place  and  volume 
of  production  of  particular  commodities. 

Two  secondary  effects  resulting  from  the  inflow  of 
specie,  accompanying  a  "favourable  balance  of  trade,"  are 
to  be  noted.  Traders  generally  welcome  the  rise  of  prices 
that  follows,  for  it  enables  them  to  realize  exceptional 
profits  on  goods  purchased  before  the  rise;  and,  as  the 
traders'  percentage  of  profit  remains  the  same,  higher 
prices,  once  established,  automatically  enlarge  the  money 
volume  of  their  businesses  and  the  gains  derived  there- 
from. Moreover,  a  plentiful  money  supply  means  easy 
credit  and  low  interest  rates,  accordingly  facilitates  the 
expansion  of  all  capitalistic  enterprise. 

These  are,  however,  gains  experienced  only  by  a  par- 
ticular class  in  the  nation.  On  the  other  hand  a  country 
handicapped  by  a  depreciated  paper  currency  before  the 
period  of  higher  prices,  due  to  protection,  may  find  it 
possible  to  get  back  to  a  sound  specie  basis  in  conse- 
quence of  a  favourable  balance  of  trade  extending  over  a 
series  of  years.  The  accumulation  of  gold  under  these 
circumstances  permits  of  the  redemption  of  government 
obligations  at  par  and  this  is  a  gain  (for  the  population  as 


164  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

a  whole)  of  the  same  nature  that  the  rise  in  prices  of 
commodities,  under  like  circumstances,  is  to  the  trading 
group ;  that  is,  every  one's  money  is  worth  more.  It  should 
be  emphasized,  however,  that,  except  as  they  are  condi- 
tioned by  factors  independent  of  the  imposition  of  tariff 
duties,  the  advantages  resulting  from  this  imposition,  so 
far  enumerated,  can  only  be  of  temporary  duration. 

In  any  event  the  national  gains  set  forth  in  the  pre- 
ceding paragraphs  are  not  of  the  kind  aimed  at,  or  gen- 
erally appreciated,  by  those  who  seek  to  promote  national 
economic  welfare  by  setting  up  tariff  barriers  against  in- 
ternational commerce.  The  ordinarily  reiterated  argu- 
ment, is,  rather,  that  a  high-tariff  policy  will  bring  about 
diversification  of  enterprise  at  home  by  protecting  infant 
industries.  A  nation  may  be  so  situated  geographically, 
and  may. have  the  natural  resources  necessary,  to  enable  it 
to  produce  a  given  commodity  as  economically  and  effi- 
ciently as  some  other  country  in  which  that  industry  is 
already  established;  but  is  prevented  from  initiating  pro- 
duction of  that  commodity  because  of  the  handicaps  of 
lack  of  skill,  cost  of  plant,  and  other  difficulties  attendant 
upon  the  starting  of  any  new  enterprise  that  must  compete 
with  going  concerns.  It  is  urged  further  that  an  initial 
rise  in  price  in  the  home  market,  due  to  imposition  of 
a  protective  tariff,  will  ultimately  be  offset  by  the  effects 
of  domestic  competition,  once  skill  and  efficiency  in  pro- 
duction have  been  acquired.  As  referred  to  the  promotion 
of  industries  actually  favoured  by  existing  natural  advan- 
tages within  the  nation,  these  arguments  are  entirely  valid, 
in  that  the  results  postulated  should  follow,  and  in  that 
they  would  be  of  advantage  to  all  the  population.     This 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS      165 

would  be  true  also  in  the  case  of  industries  in  which  the 
acquirement  of  sufficient  skill  is  the  only  thing  needful  for 
success.  But  the  imposition  of  protective  tariffs  has  this 
great  disadvantage;  what  is  meant  to  he  a  temporary 
measure  tends  to  become  permanent,  the  protected  indus- 
tries strenuously  oppose  the  removal  of  the  duties  even 
after  they  are  fully  competent  to  meet  the  foreign  pro- 
ducer without  protection.  Then  the  protected  industry 
is  found  to  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  the  home  market  at  a  high 
price,  the  while  it  is  able  to  undersell  its  foreign  competi- 
tors in  a  neutral  market.  Unquestionably  the  situation 
then  greatly  favours  the  group  of  producers  concerned  in 
the  particular  industries  that  are  protected,  but  it  is  equally 
obvious  that  the  nation  at  large  will  be  adversely  affected 
because  of  the  monopolistic  position  of  those  industries. 

The  same  ends,  protection  of  young  industries,  and  di- 
versification of  industries  generally,  may  be  attained  more 
directly  and  at  no  greater  cost  to  the  nation  by  national 
subsidies.  A  system  of  national  subsidies  would  make 
apparent  always  just  how  much  each  infant  industry  was 
costing  the  nation  as  a  whole ;  and  from  this  balance  sheet 
it  could  be  judged  whether  continued  expenditure  was 
warranted,  either  as  against  eventual  success,  or  on  the 
basis  of  the  industry  having  become  sufficiently  well  estab- 
lished to  survive  on  its  own  merits.  An  industry  able  to 
undersell  its  foreign  competitors  in  a  neutral  market  could 
not  with  good  grace  continue  to  cry  out  for  a  subsidy. 
Curiously  enough  something  of  this  sort  is  quite  frequently 
practised  in  the  internal  economics  of  a  nation,  though  its 
possible  relation  to  industries  affected  by  foreign  competi- 
tion is  seldom  realized.     If  the  citizens  of  a  given  com- 


166  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

munity,  particularly  the  merchant  group,  are  convinced 
that  it  would  be  of  advantage  to  have  a  new  industry  of 
some  kind  established  in  their  particular  locality  they 
commonly  offer  inducements  to  promoters,  in  the  guise 
of  free  land  for  factory  sites,  or  by  securing  the  local  un- 
derwriting of  the  enterprise ;  that  is,  by  local  subscription 
for  the  stock  of  the  company.  In  effect  these  practices  are 
equivalent  to  the  granting  of  subsidies,  and  might  with 
equal  advantage  be  applied  nationally,  through  taxation, 
to  provide  support  for  infant  industries.  However,  it  is 
probable  that  in  the  future,  advances  in  education,  the  in- 
creasingly rapid  dissemination  of  information  on  tech- 
nological subjects  and  the  availability  of  capital  for  in- 
vestment wherever  there  is  an  opportunity  for  profit,  will 
severally  and  jointly  be  more  effective  in  bringing  about 
the  establishment  of  new  industries  than  protective  duties 
or  subsidies. 

But,  despite  all  these  considerations,  there  would  not 
be  so  marked  public  approval  of  a  protective-tariff  policy 
among  Western  industrial  nations  (England  excluded) 
except  for  the  fact  that,  in  addition  to  the  actually 
realizable  home  gain,  it  is  felt  that  taxation  of  imports 
will  work  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  foreigner;  not  only 
by  debarring  him  from  any  share  in  the  national  market 
that  he  may  formerly  have  had,  but  also  in  that  this 
deprivation  will  cripple  foreign  industry  generally  and 
so  make  it  less  able  to  compete  successfully  in  neutral 
fields.  In  view  of  the  large  part  that  export  of  capital 
has  played  in  world  development  recently,  it  may  be  said, 
here  again,  that  had  the  total  volume  of  the  world's 
demand  for  any  kind  of  goods   remained  stationary  it 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS      167 

might  have  been  possible  to  handicap  foreign  rivals  by- 
restricting  the  spheres  of  their  activities.  But  while  the 
loss  of  a  given  market  may  have  brought  about,  in  par- 
ticular instances,  a  temporary  depression  in  certain  lines 
of  a  country's  industries,  the  declines  have  seldom  been 
permanent,  because  the  expansion  of  the  world  market 
has  generally  kept  pace  with  all  increases  in  facilities 
for  production. 

One  further  consideration  needs  to  be  taken  into  ac- 
count, in  a  discussion  of  the  effect  of  a  protective-tariff 
policy  on  the  material  well-being  of  a  nation,  and  that  is 
the  protection  from  foreign  monopolistic  extortion  it  may 
afford.  The  term  "monopoly"  implies  single  control  of 
the  supply  of  a  given  commodity.  If  that  condition  were 
completely  realizable,  in  any  given  instance,  import 
duties  could  have  no  protective  value  and  would  only 
aggravate  the  predicament  of  the  consumer  in  the  country 
erecting  the  tariff  barrier.  Usually,  however,  the  foreign 
monopolistic  producer  only  controls  a  notably  superior 
supply  and  can  only  reap  so  much  of  an  advantage  as 
this  gives.  If  the  foreign  monopolistic  producer  then 
advances  the  price  beyond  the  margin  this  advantage 
affords,  less  easily  available  or  inferior  supplies  obtained 
elsewhere  will  appear  in  competition.  In  the  possible 
instance  of  an  absolute  control  of  supply  the  monopolist 
will  probably  encounter  limitations  on  the  demands  he 
can  make.  Diamonds,  of  which  95  per  cent  of  the  supply 
is  said  to  be  controlled  by  one  company,  afford  a  good 
example.  The  demand  for  these  gems  is  fairly  constant 
at  a  certain  price  level.  If  the  company  in  control  should 
put  on  the  market  all  it  could  produce  the  price  would 


168  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

fall  so  rapidly  that  no  advantage  could  be  gained.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  should  very  sharply  restrict  production 
the  higher  prices  resulting  would,  in  like  manner,  effect  a 
great  decline  in  the  volume  of  purchases  and,  at  the  same 
time,  lead  to  the  development  of  minor  sources  of  supply, 
the  output  of  which  would  then  compete  with  the  monop- 
oly product  in  the  narrower,  higher  price  market  and  thus 
tend  further  to  limit  profits.  Production  of  potash  and 
dyestuffs  in  the  United  States  during  the  Great  War 
illustrates  the  effectiveness  of  a  notable  rise  in  price  in 
making  available  supplies  that  exist  but  are  not  utilized. 
An  industry,  such  as  that  of  dyestuffs'  manufacture, 
which  is  highly  specialized  and  has  been  long  established 
in  one  country,  but  not  in  others,  presents  a  form  of 
monopoly  that  affords  opportunity  for  disproportionate 
gain  to  the  producers,  if  they  can  succeed  in  preventing 
the  initiation  of  equivalent  manufactures  elsewhere.  The 
practice  of  "dumping-"  is  commonly  resorted  to  in  order 
to  maintain  the  monopoly  position.  The  possibility  of 
success  in  a  monopoly  enterprise  of  this  nature  depends, 
in  addition  to  the  conditions  enumerated,  on  the  further 
requirement  that  the  industry  must  be  one  in  which 
increasing  production  brings  increasing  returns;  that  is, 
one  in  which  the  unit  cost  is  lowered  as  volume  of  pro- 
duction increases.  If,  also,  it  enjoys,  in  the  country  of 
production,  the  benefit  of  a  protective  tariff,  a  monopoly 
of  this  kind  may  become  firmly  intrenched.  "Dumping" 
consists  in  selling  goods  in  a  foreign  market  at  so  low 
a  price  that  incipient  competition  is  completely  dis- 
couraged. Protection  in  the  home  market  prevents  resale 
there  of  the  dumped  goods,  and  thus  enables  the  producers 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OP  NATIONS       169 

to  continue  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  relatively  high  domestic 
price  level,  though,  of  course,  at  the  expense  of  the  home 
consumer.1  The  volume  of  demand,  that  complete  pos- 
session of  the  foreign  markets  assures,  guarantees  the  en- 
joyment of  large  returns,  even  when  the  goods  are  sold  at 
low  prices  in  countries  where  "dumping"  must  for  a  time 
be  practised. 

It  would  seem  that  this  sort  of  a  combination  would  be 
difficult  to  overcome,  and  that  its  profits,  though  in  part 
acquired  at  the  expense  of  the  general  public  in  the  pro- 
ducing country,  must  be  derived  in  still  larger  measure 
from  foreign  buyers.  Accordingly  this  appears  to  be  an 
instance  where  protective  duties,  or  a  subsidy,  should  by 
all  means  be  applied  in  all  outside  countries  where  the 

1  The  history  of  the  sugar  industry  is  illuminating  in  this  con- 
nection. R.  T.  Hill,  in  his  book,  "Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,"  p.  401, 
New  York,  1898,  remarks  that  the  depressed  economic  condition 
in  the  English  West  Indian  islands,  then,  was  due  to  the  failure 
of  England  to  put  a  protective-tariff  duty  on  non-British  sugars. 
"But  her  statesmen  have  failed  to  see  why  the  millions  of  sugar 
consumers  should  be  taxed  for  tha  few  West  Indian  planters,  even 
though  the  Germans  were  enriched  by  British  free  trade  and  the 
islands'  prosperity  destroyed."  At  that  time  British  consumers  were 
buying  German  beet  sugar  at  three  cents  per  pound,  because  the 
German  Government  was  protecting  the  home  (German)  market 
and  at  the  same  time  paying  a  bounty  of  three  cents  per  pound  on 
export  sugar,  while  levying  an  excise  tax  of  two  cents  per  pound 
on  domestically  consumed  sugar.  Thus  the  protected  (?)  Germans 
were  paying  five  cents  per  pound  in  taxes  to  make  sugar  cheap  for 
the  British,  and  to  top  it  off  the  protected  German  manufacturers 
combined  to  raise  the  domestic  price.  The  folly  of  all  this  was 
eventually  realized  and  export  bounties  were  abandoned  after  the 
Brussels  conferences  in  1901  and  1902.  See  J.  Russell  Smith, 
"Industrial  and  Commercial  Geography,"  pp.  266-269,  New  York, 
1913,  for  a  good  summary  of  this  situation. 


170  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

monopolistic  industry  has  any  possible  chance  of  becom- 
ing established  after  an  initial  period  of  struggle. 

But  the  case  of  the  foreign  consumer,  even  though  no 
protective  tariff  or  subsidy  measures  are  adopted  to  estab- 
lish a  competing  industry,  is  not  so  difficult  as  this  state- 
ment might  make  it  appear.  In  the  first  place  the 
monopoly,  to  secure  maximum  gains,  must  market  the 
largest  possible  volume  of  its  product.  It  will,  therefore, 
be  inclined  to  keep  the  price  to  all  consumers  at  all  times 
sufficiently  low  to  get  all  potential  business.  That  is,  the 
monopoly  will  profit  most  by  keeping*  its  prices  as  low 
as  possible  in  all  countries  in  order  to  encourage  a  wider 
and  wider  use  of  the  product.  If,  then,  the  large-scale 
monopoly  production  insures  the  lowest  possible  price, 
there  is  no  gain  for  any  community  in  establishing  a  rival 
industry.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  increasing  returns  are 
not  so  directly  related  to  a  larger  and  larger  scale  of  pro- 
duction and  there  are  natural  advantages  sufficiently 
favourable  to  encourage  the  establishment  of  rival  indus- 
tries elsewhere,  then  it  will  appear  that  there  are  limita- 
tions to  the  effectiveness  of  the  practice  of  monopoly 
dumping  to  prevent  foreign  competition.  Though  the 
home  market  of  the  monopoly  producers  may  be  protected 
by  a  tariff  so  high  as  to  be  absolutely  prohibitive  to  any 
importations,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  situation  this  can 
not  be  the  case  in  other  countries.  Hence  "dumping"  in 
one  country  at  extremely  low  prices  will  quite  naturally 
result  in  resale  in  other  countries,  and  thus  necessitate 
the  marketing  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  total  output  at 
a  positive  loss  to  the  monopolists. 

If  the  monopoly  depends  on  patent  rights,  and  resale 


INTEKDEPEKDENCE  OF  NATIONS      171 

in  other  countries  is  thereby  prevented,  the  situation  is 
simply  one  of  greater  initial  efficiency  in  the  producing 
country ;  the  enjoyment  for  a  period  of  an  advantage  that 
even  narrow  nationalists  agree  is  only  due  and  right. 
If  the  nature  of  the  processes  that  give  the  monopoly  can 
be  kept  secret  and  the  monopoly  thus  retained,  even  after 
the  patents  run  out,  failure  to  solve  the  riddle  is  simply 
a  confession  of  incompetence  on  the  part  of  jealous  rivals, 
hence,  here  again,  the  original  producers  are  only  reaping 
a  further  reward  of  their  greater  efficiency.  In  other 
words  the  case,  then,  is  not  one  that  can  in  any  way  be 
affected  by  imposition  of  an  import  duty. 

Finally  there  remains  to  be  considered,  in  favour  of 
protective  customs  barriers,  the  purely  political  motive  for 
their  establishment  and  maintenance,  embodied  in  Adam 
Smith's  postulation,  with  reference  to  the  British  'Navi- 
gation Act,  that  defence  is  of  much  more  importance 
(to  a  nation)  than  opulence.  If  national  security  is  held 
to  be  promoted  by  adoption  of  any  and  every  device  that 
will  tend  to  bring  about  complete  national  self-sufficiency, 
no  matter  at  what  cost,  it  is  quite  indisputable  that  sub- 
sidies to  shipping  and  protective  tariffs  will  contribute  to 
establish  a  self-contained  national  economy.  But  not  even 
the  semblance  of  complete  economic  independence  could 
be  thus  attained  by  the  majority  of  nations,  unless  these 
were  willing  to  enforce  measures  sufficiently  drastic  to 
cause  their  populations  to  sink  to  so  low  a  standard  of 
living  that  the  means  would  defeat  the  very  end  that 
was  sought ;  namely,  national  security.  For  by  cutting 
itself  off  from  all  foreign  supplies  a  nation  would,  in  the 
majority  of  instances,  render  itself  incapable  of  making 


172  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

the  instruments  and  munitions  with  which  modern  war 
is  waged. 

A  few  nations  possessing  wide  territories,  rich  in  a 
great  variety  of  resources,  of  which  the  United  States  is 
the  most  notable  example,  and  among  which  the  British 
Empire,  and  Imperial  Russia,  before  the  Great  War, 
might  be  included,  could,  indeed,  achieve  something  ap- 
proaching very  nearly  complete  self-sufficiency.  But  in 
their  case,  if  the  danger  of  foreign  aggression  actually 
impended  so  immediately  as  to  make  an  attempt  at  com- 
plete self-sufficiency  worth  while  for  the  sake  of  defence, 
the  same  purpose  could  be  attained,  at  much  less  cost  to 
the  population  as  a  whole,  by  maintaining  a  navy  so  much 
superior  to  that  of  any  competitor  that  the  inflow  of  sup- 
plies from  neutral  sources  could  always  be  insured. 
Moreover,  however  completely  national  economic  inde- 
pendence were  developed,  it  would  in  any  event  need  to 
be  supplemented  by  as  preponderant  a  navy  unless  the 
nation  were  willing  to  do  battle  with  an  enemy  on  its  own 
lands,  and  that  would  be  folly  on  folly.  Great  Britain  has 
maintained  the  superior  navy  that  the  logic  of  the  argu- 
ment demands,  and  is  warranted  in  so  doing  in  view  of  her 
scattered  domain  and  the  world  relation  of  international 
hostility  that  has  existed,  and  seems  bound  to  persist: 

It  is  not,  however,  the  possibility  or  impossibility  of 
attainment  by  a  nation  of  complete  economic  independence 
that  gives  point  to  argument  favouring  protection  in  the 
interest  of  national  defence,  generally,  but  the  particular 
need  of  insuring  an  adequate  food  supply  through  a  period 
of  hostilities.  Clothing  and  shelter  a  nation  may  make 
some  shift  to  produce,  in  time  of  war,  or  to  accumulate  in 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       173 

sufficient  supply  in  time  of  peace  to  last  through  a  long 
period  of  conflict.  But  if  deprived,  when  engaged  in  war, 
of  a  sufficient  annual  supply  of  food  the  nation  will  very 
shortly  be  reduced  to  dire  straits.  Hence  the  compelling 
stimulus  to  promote  the  domestic  development  of  agricul- 
ture to  a  point  where,  if  this  he  at  all  possible,  it  may  be 
capable  of  furnishing  at  least  a  rationed  supply  of  food 
to  the  citizens.  This  need  was  more  acutely  felt  in  Great 
Britain  than  anywhere  else  at  the  height  of  the  German 
submarine  campaign  in  the  Great  War.  But  even  if 
Great  Britain  had  resorted  to  the  utmost  measures  in  pro- 
moting agriculture,  in  anticipation  of  such  a  crisis,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  a  sufficient  quantity  of  food  could  have 
been  produced  from  the  soil  of  the  British  Isles,  alone,  to 
support  the  resident  population. 

While  most  nations  are  not  in  quite  so  tight  a  place  as 
England  is  with  respect  to  food  supplies,  the  other  Euro- 
pean industrial  groups  are  not  very  much  better  situated. 
Moreover,  as  population  numbers  will  expand  everywhere 
following  the  introduction  of  machine  industry,  based  on 
the  opportunity  then  afforded  for  the  employment  of  much 
labour  in  the  processing  manufactures,  coupled  with  the 
possibility  of  the  importation  of  cheap  food  from  other 
regions,  England's  predicament  promises  to  become  quite 
general  in  all  the  north  temperate  lands.  It  would  be 
possible  to  put  a  check  on  this  tendency  to  growth  in 
population  by  imposing  a  protective  tariff  on  food,  inci- 
dentally making  food  dearer,  and  thus  compelling  more 
intensive  cultivation  of  the  land,  but  that  action  would 
also  check  the  expansion  of  manufacturing  industry. 
The  expedient  might  be  justifiable  in  the  interest  of  future 


174  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

generations,  but  as  referred  to  the  present  it  would  have 
the  force  of  depriving  England  and  any  other  industrial 
nations  that  might  apply  it,  in  some  measure  of  the  com- 
parative advantage  that  the  efficiency  of  their  labour  in 
manufactures  (combined  with  other  natural  adaptations 
and  resources  of  place)  has  hitherto  enabled  them  to  enjoy. 

Evidently,  then,  tariff  barriers,  at  best,  can  only  serve 
to  promote  the  material  welfare  of  nations  when  utilized 
as  transitory  measures ;  and  are  an  altogether  inadequate 
provision  for  insuring  national  security,  except,  perhaps, 
as  it  is  thought  in  this  way  to  provide  for  future  genera- 
tions of  citizens  by  checking  the  growth  of  national  popu- 
lation in  the  present.  Furthermore,  as  generally  applied, 
protective  tariffs  operate  to  the  positive  detriment  of  the 
great  majority  of  people  in  a  country  and,  by  bringing 
about  an  inequitable  distribution  of  wealth,  do  much  to 
intensify  the  existing  state  of  international  hostility. 

J.  A.  Hobson,  in  his  volume  on  "The  New  Protection- 
ism," l  has  been  able  to  express,  more  concisely  than  other 
writers,  it  would  appear,  the  sufficient  reason  why  the 
doctrine  of  protectionism  has,  during  the  last  few  decades, 
met  with  so  much  favour  by  all  classes  of  people  in  the 
several  nations  of  the  Western  world;  whereas  it  might 
reasonably  have  been  expected  that  quite  the  contrary 
reaction  would  result  from  wider  diffusion  of  economic 
knowledge.  Hobson  points  out  that  the  conscious  attention 
of  every  man  is  directed  almost  exclusively  to  his  own 
working  activities  which  make  him  the  producer  of  a 
surplusage  of  some  particular  kind  of  goods.  This  sur- 
plus of  one  thing  he  must  then  exchange  for  multitudinous 

1  London,  1916,  pp.  5-7. 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS      175 

bits  of  other  commodities  and  services.  "As  producer  he 
is  one,  as  consumer  he  is  many."  Accordingly  the  pro- 
ducer ego  attaches  vastly  more  importance  to  the  amount 
of  return  (in  money)  that  it  gets  for  its  own  product  than 
it  does  to  the  amount  of  goods  (actual  value)  that  the 
money  will  buy.  It  is  quite  obvious  that  a  protective- 
tariff  duty  on  any  one  particular  commodity  will  result 
in  a  comparative  advantage  to  the  nationalist  producer 
of  that  commodity.  It  is  equally  obvious  that  no  great 
number  of  particular  producers  could  hope  to  be  advan- 
taged, directly,  by  protection  from  foreign  competition  in 
their  special  lines.  But  the  appeal  of  the  protectionist 
argument  is  even  more  insidious  than  Hobson's  analysis  of 
the  individual  producer  would  make  it  appear,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  its  application  can  be  given  a  geographic 
turn,  in  accordance  with  which  protective  duties  appar- 
ently confer  general  as  well  as  personal  benefits.  A 
given  community  is  besought  to  consider  the  extent  to 
which  it  will  be  advantaged  if  the  chief  product  or  prod- 
ucts that  it  markets  within  the  nation,  but  almost  exclu- 
sively without  the  locality  of  production,  is  afforded  tariff 
protection  against  foreign  competition.  The  individual 
then  considers  immediately  how  greatly  his  opportunities 
as  a  producer  will  be  enhanced  by  the  better  market  that 
the  prosperity  of  the  local  community,  resulting  from  the 
protective  tariff,  will  furnish  for  his  special  kind  of  sur- 
plus. The  cycle  of  effects  is  in  no  way  different  from  that 
postulated  in  a  preceding  paragraph,  for  what  is  involved 
is  first  the  exportation  of  goods,  followed  by  rise  in  prices 
in  the  exporting  region,  accompanied  by  comparative 
advantage  in  the  purchase  of  imported  goods  for  residents 


176  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

in  the  protected  area;  only  here  the  argument  applies  to 
the  several  communities  within  a  nation  rather  than  to 
the  nation  as  a  whole  in  its  relations  with  alien  producers. 

Moreover,  while  the  individual  producer  in  the  favoured 
district  is  comparatively  indifferent  to  the  hardship  his 
community's  higher  returns  may  work  on  the  persons  in 
the  other  domestic  communities  that  consume  the  pro- 
tected export  product;  yet,  curiously  enough,  he  is  on  the 
other  hand  capable  of  thinking  generously  of  other  domes- 
tic producers,  and  is  quite  ready  to  concede  similar  pro- 
tection to  them  for  their  export  commodity.  What  he 
always  fails  to  perceive  is  that  if  all  producers  receive 
protection  his  own  producer-and-community  advantage  dis- 
appears in  his  varied  needs  as  a  consumer. 

That  it  remains  easy  to  understand  the  fascination  of 
the  protectionist  appeals  to  the  common  man,  with  his  life 
interest  fixed  almost  solely  on  his  activities  as  producer, 
even  immediately  after  reading  Hobson's  exposition  of 
the  fallacy  of  the  common  man's  concept  of  the  actual 
situation,  is,  in  itself,  an  adequate  explanation  of  the 
continued  popularity  of  the  protectionist  doctrine.  It 
should  be  remembered,  also,  that  in  addition  to  the  great 
numbers  who  may  anticipate  benefits  from  the  imposition 
of  new  duties,  a  very  large  and  influential  element  in  the 
population  of  protected  countries  would  be  discommoded 
and  its  vested  interests  adversely  affected  by  the  abolition 
of  existing  tariff  barriers;  particularly  those  that  have 
made  possible  the,  geographically  unwarranted,  develop- 
ment of  certain  industries.  And  there  are  many  more 
persons  who  fancy  that  they  would  be  hurt,  by  such  a 
change.     All  of  these  persons  willbe  in  favour  of  a  pro- 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       177 

tectionist  policy.  Hence  it  is  quite  evident  why  public 
opinion  inclines  so  much  more  toward  this  than  toward 
the  free-trade  view  that  rational  consideration  would 
indicate  as  likely  to  be  more  popular;  because  free  trade 
would  conduce  to  far  greater  material  benefit  to  the  ma- 
jority of  citizens  of  a  nation. 

The  obsession  of  the  individual  by  the  part  he  plays  as 
a  producer  is  carried  over  into  his  thinking  about  his  own 
nation  in  its  relation  with  other  nations.  By  this  initial 
bias  he  is  led  to  conceive  of  the  home  country  as  a  unit- 
producer  in  competition  with  other  nations  as  unit- 
producers  of  the  same  kinds  of  goods.  Indeed,  it  probably 
never  occurs  to  him  that  nations  do  not  trade  with  each 
other  as  corporate  units.  They  might  so  trade  if  they 
were  organized  as  completely  socialized  states,  but  quite 
the  opposite  relationship  has  obtained  during  the  period 
of  protectionist  revival.  Nor  are  any  two  nations,  as  such, 
hostile  competitors  for  the  trade  of  a  third  group.  Indi- 
viduals or  corporations  within  each  nation  have  commer- 
cial transactions  with  individuals  and  firms  of  other 
nations,  and  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  these  deals  are 
profitable  to  both  parties  to  the  transactions,  just  as  buyers 
and  sellers  within  the  nation  are  each  satisfied  with  their 
respective  bargains.  If  that  were  not  the  case  interna- 
tional trade  would  never  have  developed.  Accordingly 
the  average  citizen  has  no  greater  economic  interest  in  the 
business  affairs  of  those  of  his  compatriots  who  engage  in 
international  trade  than  he  has  in  commercial  transac- 
tions, to  which  he  is  not  a  party,  that  take  place  within 
his  own  nation.  In  either  instance  these  commercial 
activities   may   afford   initially   unconcerned   individuals 


178  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

an  opportunity  to  turn  an  honest  penny ;  for  new  openings 
may  offer  in  a  going  and  growing  business  organization,  or 
these  individuals  may  profit  through  business  ventures  of 
their  own  that  turn  on  the  operations  of  others.  To  be 
sure,  expansion  and  activity  of  foreign  trade  mean  the 
possibility  of  such  openings,  but  except  as  foreign  trade 
may  suggest  a  wider  horizon,  the  average  citizen  is  as 
likely  to  profit  by  internal  as  by  external  developments. 

The  current  misconception  under  which  the  nation  as 
a  whole  is  regarded  as  a  unified  trading  group  is  respon- 
sible for  the  delusions  harboured  concerning  the  signifi- 
cance of  a  "favourable  balance  of  trade" ;  the  idea  that  it 
is  a  good  thing  for  a  nation  to  have  larger  exports  than 
imports.  Except  as  special  conditions  are  involved,  quite 
the  contrary  is  the  case.  To  receive  always  greater  value 
in  imports  than  what  was  sent  out  as  exports  would  be  a 
much  more  enviable  status,  provided  that  no  further  obli- 
gations were  entailed.  That  would  be  an  equivalent  situa- 
tion to  permitting  an  individual  to  go  into  shops  and  have 
goods  sold  to  him  always  below  cost;  with  the  foreign 
nations  accommodatingly  acting  as  the  merchants  in  the 
case.  When  the  sum  of  foreign  exports  through  a  long 
series  of  years  always  exceeds  the  imports,  a  nation  is 
either  paying  debts  incurred  earlier,  or  its  citizens  are 
spending  money  abroad,  and  traders  at  home  need  to  send 
goods  to  pay  for  the  capital  advances  or  for  the  services 
and  commodities  enjoyed  by  the  travellers.  It  may, 
indeed,  be  a  very  roundabout  transaction,  but  in  the  end 
it  always  comes  to  this.  If,  for  example,  the  home  govern- 
ment has  borrowed  money  abroad,  it  will  collect  taxes 
to  pay  the  interest  and  principal.     This  money  will  be 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       179 

remitted  to  the  foreign  holders  of  the  securities.  These 
in  turn  may  use  the  funds  received  from  the  first  country 
to  buy  goods  in  a  third  country,  and  the  tradesmen  of  the 
third  country  may  then  buy  goods  from  the  merchants  of 
the  home  country ;  that  is,  in  the  nation  where  the  money 
was  originally  collected  as  taxes.  In  other  words,  the 
producers  of  the  country  that  originally  borrowed  the 
money  eventually  need  to  render  goods  or  services  in  pay- 
ment. What  each  individual  supplies  in  money  taxes  is 
his  contribution,  in  a  form  convenient  to  him,  toward 
paying  off  the  debt ;  what  the  merchants  eventually  ship 
in  goods  is  what  the  foreign  peoples  finally  elect  as  most 
desirable  of  the  home  product.  If  repayment  of  the  loan 
is  made  with  gold  mined  in  the  home  country,  that  gold 
is  simply  goods. 

An  excess  of  exports  over  imports  in  the  case  of  a 
country  whose  producers  have  incurred  obligations  abroad 
for  domestic  development  or  equipment  purposes  is  an 
excellent  thing ;  it  indicates  the  solvency  of  the  borrowers. 
But  what  really  appeals  to  the  unreasoning  imagination 
in  the  matter  of  the  "favourable  balance  of  trade"  is  the 
fond  delusion  that  the  sums  indicated  as  the  favourable 
balance  between  imports  and  exports  pile  up  from  year  to 
year  into  a  huge  credit  for  the  home  nation,  in  some  way 
to  be  jointly  enjoyed  in  the  future.  The  average  citizen 
of  a  country  having  for  a  long  period  a  favourable  balance 
of  trade  ought,  after  only  a  few  years  of  that  national 
experience,  to  realize  that  he  is  as  little  likely  to  become  a 
party  to  the  joint  enjoyment  of  the  balance  as  he  is  to 
enjoy  participation  in  the  undivided  profits  of  a  bank  in 
which  he  owns  no  stock.     But  even  if  he  were  to  share  in 


180  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

the  credits  that  apparently  accrue  to  the  nation  he  would 
commonly  fail  to  perceive  that  his  satisfaction  could  only 
come  about  through  the  importation  of  foreign  goods  or 
through  the  employment  of  the  services  of  foreigners  in 
their  own  country.1 

1  It  happens  that  the  United  States,  as  a  nation,  is  at  present 
actually  in  possession  of  the  kind  of  huge  foreign  credit  that  the 
average  citizen  conceives  will  result  from  a  favourable  balance  of 
trade:  the  ten  billion  dollar  debt  owing  to  us  by  the  Allies.  But 
will  this  credit  benefit  the  individual  citizen  in  any  way?  It  is 
altogether  unlikely.  If  the  debtor  nations  were  to  pay  off  their 
obligations  in  gold  within  the  next  generation  or  two  the  only 
result  in  the  United  States  would  be  higher  prices,  because  the 
funds  paid  in  to  our  government  would  be  used  in  retiring  Liberty 
Bonds;  hence  would  come  a  plentiful  supply  of  money,  easy  credit, 
and  inflated  commodity  values  at  home.  As  it  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  Allies  can  soon  pay  in  gold,  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  now  living  may  look  forward  to  paying  off  their  Liberty  Bond 
indebtedness  by  internal  taxation.  Incidentally  the  Great  War 
cost  us  over  thirty-three  billions  of  dollars.  Meanwhile  proposals 
have  been  made,  again  and  again,  that  the  whole  of  the  Allied  debt 
be  cancelled;  but  no  one  has  ventured  to  suggest  the  one  way  by 
which  the  sum  could  be  repaid  to  the  advantage  of  each  and  every 
living  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

Why  do  the  Allies  owe  us  all  this  money?  Because  we  supplied 
them  with  goods  and  services;  we  built  up,  nationally  in  this  case, 
a  huge,  favourable  balance  of  trade.  How  can  the  Allies  repay  what 
we  advanced  them?     By  sending  us  goods  and  furnishing  us  services. 

In  round  numbers  the  population  of  the  United  States  is  one 
hundred  million  people.  Hence  it  may  be  figured  that  the  Allies 
owe  each  of  us  one  hundred  dollars.  Suppose  now  that  each  citizen 
were  to  be  presented  with  a  non-transferable  certificate,  valid  for 
one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  Allied  goods  or  services,  and  payable 
serially  over,  say,  a  period  of  fifty  years,  and  to  carry  interest, 
also  in  goods  or  services,  on  the  deferred  payments,  compounded  and 
credited  to  the  holders  of  the  unpaid  certificates.  Then  the  indi- 
vidual citizen  could  collect  on  this  favourable  balance  of  trade. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  such  an  adjustment  will  ever  be  con- 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       181 

It  is  worth  while* to  devote  much  space  to  the  clearing 
up  of  these  vagaries,  for  if  the  peoples  of  the  earth  are  to 
enjoy  its  fruits  in  mutual  goodwill  it  must  he  generally 
realized  that  there  is  no  basis  for  international  hostility 
in  the  statistics  of  world  commerce.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
it  was  held  that  the  seller  was  uniformly  the  favoured 
party  and  the  buyer  was  therefore  much  inclined,  after 
a  deal  had  been  made,  to  "hit  the  seller  over  the  head  with 
a  club"  if  he  got  a  chance,  and  in  sundry  instances  he  may 
actually  have  done  that.  Unreasonable  as  this  attitude 
may  seem  there  was  in  those  times  considerable  warrant 
for  it,  because  if  the  seller  got  gold  in  exchange  for  his 
goods  he  became  possessed  of  the  one  commodity  every- 
where acceptable  for  any  kind  of  material  or  services; 
whereas  the  buyer,  if  later  disappointed  with  his  bargain, 
would  have  many  difficulties  in  exchanging  the  dry-goods, 
cattle,  or  what  not  he  held  for  something  else.  Caveat 
emptor.  In  California  people  are  even  now  so  timid  and 
suspicious  that  they  much  prefer  to  do  business  with  cold, 
hard  cash  than  with  the  more  convenient  paper  money. 
The  vendor,  the  man  who  gets  the  gold,  has  a  universal 
option  as  to  what  he  will  use  it  for ;  the  option  of  the  holder 

sidered;  hence  it  is  not  worth  while  to  enter  here  upon  a  discussion 
of  the  practical  administration  of  the  project  or  to  answer  the 
objections  to  it  that  would  be  immediately  urged.  The  fact  that  it 
will  not  be  considered  proves  that  the  individual  citizen  can  not 
participate  even  in  a  favourable  balance  of  trade  nationally  estab- 
lished. It  may  also  be  noted  that  the  Allies  would  not  so  much 
object  to  this  plan  as  would  the  shopkeepers,  captains  of  industry, 
and  financiers  at  home.  These  would  picture  all  our  trade  at  a  stand- 
still. And  it  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to  convince  them  that 
home  business  on  the  contrary  would  actually  be  stimulated  through 
payment  by  the  Allies  in  kind  and  in  equal  share  to  each  citizen. 


182  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

of  paper  money,  even  in  these  United  States,  is  not  quite 
so  broad  and  sure.  The  nationalist  who  shows  concern 
over  a  decline  in  the  balance  of  exports  over  imports,  is, 
due  to  a  rather  curious  inversion  of  reasoning,  in  this 
"buyer's"  frame  of  mind.  He  imagines  that  he  sees  in 
those  figures  an  indication  of  his  nation's  decline  in  ability 
as  a  seller  and  develops  a  personal  ill-will  against  other 
nationalities  on  that  account.  Because  nationality  is  ex- 
pressed by  like-mindedness,  and  the  like^mindedness  con- 
sists in  part  in  entertaining  those  feelings,  it  is  easy  to 
perceive  how  international  animosities  develop  over  so 
variably  significant  a  matter  as  relative  import  and  export 
totals.  Though  abandoned  by  economists  generally,  the 
Mercantile  System  is  still  deeply  rooted  in  the  popular 
mind. 

If,  rather,  the  typical  citizen  showed  concern  over  a 
decline  from  year  to  year  in  the  totals  of  both  exports  and 
imports  he  would  be  representative  of  a  wise  nationality  in 
its  generation.  He  would  then  be  saying:  The  nation's 
business  (in  other  words,  the  aggregate  of  the  productivity 
of  the  individuals  comprising  the  nation)  is  declining; 
and  he  might  reasonably  be  jealous  of  other  nationalities 
which  were,  contrariwise,  on  the  "uptake." 

It  can  not  be  said  that  a  progressive  increase  in  the 
combined  totals  of  exports  and  imports  necessarily  means 
prosperity  for  the  people  of  a  nation,  or  that  a  decline 
spells  disaster.  But  the  indication  would  be  as  suggested 
in  each  case.  Hence  the  great  folly  of  putting  the  em- 
phasis in  governmental  promotion  of  foreign  trade  on 
export  possibilities  only.  It  would,  indeed,  be  much  more 
profitable  to  send  out  agents  to  shop  around  for  desirable 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       183 

imports,  especially  in  the  nature  of  raw  materials.  In  this 
last,  the  matter  of  raw  materials,  the  real  nub  of  the  situa- 
tion is  approached.  Each  nation  desires  to  market  the 
superior  services  of  its  population  and  to  receive  in  return 
therefor  potentially  useful  commodities  on  which  but  little 
labour  has  been  performed.  Even  this  very  desirable 
consummation  is  often  overlooked  because  of  the  interven- 
tion of  a  third  nationality  (and  a  fourth,  fifth,  etc.)  in  the 
transactions  involved.  To  the  American  it  seems  almost 
a  good  joke  when  the  Britisher  takes  the  Argentinian's 
beef  and  pays  him  good  money  for  it,  which  the  Argen- 
tinian in  turn  invests  in  American  typewriters.  But  what 
can  the  American  do  with  the  money  ?  Perhaps  buy 
English  woollens — then  the  joke  does  not  seem  quite  so 
good. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  consular  agent  from  Washing- 
ton had  busied  himself,  not  only  to  find  a  market  for  the 
typewriters,  but  also  in  spying  out  some  Argentinian 
product,  preferably  a  raw  material,  of  which  the  Ameri- 
can supply  was  deficient,  he  would  have  performed  a  really 
significant  service.  For,  by  that  action,  he  might  per- 
chance have  enlarged  the  total  volume  of  foreign  trade, 
if  the  Argentinian  product  was  one  for  which  there  had 
formerly  been  no  demand ;  and  in  any  event  he  would  have 
precluded  the  British  merchants  from  making  a  profit 
(selling  their  product)  in  the  transactions  involved. 

In  the  preceding  discussion,  allusion  has  several  times 
been  made  to  the  broad  significance  of  the  continuous  ex- 
pansion of  world  trade  on  the  subjects  under  considera- 
tion. The  pertinence  of  this  factor  may  be  made  more 
comprehensible  by  examination  of  a  specific  instance,  the 


184  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

commerce  in  tin  plate.  This  commodity  is  selected,  par- 
ticularly, because  it  was  the  material  about  which  the  argu- 
ment centred  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1888  when 
the  tariff  policy  of  the  United  States  was  the  issue.  In 
1864  a  tariff  law  had  been  enacted  which  was  intended, 
perhaps,  to  put  a  heavy  protective  duty  on  tin  plate,  but 
which  was  interpreted  as  imposing  only  the  same 
ad  valorem  duty  of  25  per  cent  on  tin  plate  as  on  the  raw 
metal.  As  the  United  States  mines  only  a  very  small 
amount  of  tin  within  the  national  territory,  the  tariff 
of  1864  affected  the  tin-plate  industry  very  little,  except 
as  it  made  prices  for  that  commodity  higher  to  the 
American  consumer.  Possibly  on  account  of  development 
of  efficiency  in  the  production  of  the  iron  plates  over  which 
tin  is  coated,  four  tin  mills  were,  however,  established  in 
the  United  States  by  1873  and  their  owners  sold  tin  plate 
at  about  the  same  price,  $11  per  box,  as  that  charged  for 
the  imported  article.  What  did  the  English  do  when  they 
heard  of  the  American  production?  In  the  words  of 
G.  B.  Curtis,1  an  ardent  protectionist,  "Just  what  they 
have  always  done  and  what  they  always  will  do  when  they 
find  us  unprotected.  First  they  reduced  their  prices 
lower  and  lower  until  they  went  to  less  than  $5  per  box. 
By  this  time  our  manufacturers  could  no  longer  compete 
and  were  forced  to  stop  manufacturing.  Just  as  soon  as 
this  was  accomplished  up  went  the  English  prices  again 
and  for  nearly  twenty  years  we  were  at  their  mercy." 
But  on  page  465  of  the  same  volume,  Curtis  has  a  table 
of  the  prices  of  tin  plate  at  Liverpool  for  the  years  1863- 

1  "The  Industrial  Development  of  Nations,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  122,  Bing- 
hamton,  N.  Y.,  1912. 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       185 

1892  in  which  it  appears  that  prices  not  only  fell  after 
1872  but  continued  to  fall  through  all  the  years  down  to 
and  including  that  of  1892,  so  that  the  price  in  the  last 
year  was  less  than  one  third  what  it  had  been  in  1872, 
when  it  was  highest.  Evidently  development  of  English 
tin  and  iron  resources,  coupled  with  increasing  skill  and 
efficiency  in  production,  were  enabling  the  English  manu- 
facturers, competing  among  themselves,  to  reduce  prices 
in  endeavouring  to  market  their  wares. 

In  July,  1891,  a  tariff  duty  of  2.2  cents  per  pound 
was  put  on  tin  plate  entering  the  United  States.  This  was 
severely  protective,  and  by  1893,  under  its  stimulus,  over 
one  hundred  tin-plate  mills  were  in  operation  in  the 
United  States.  (Curtis,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  124.)  Between 
1891  and  1898  imports  of  tin  plate  fell  off  from  twenty- 
five  million  dollars  to  three  million  dollars.  The  price 
of  the  foreign  product  immediately  declined  about  one 
fifth.  The  American  product  sold  at  a  price  equivalent 
to  the  English  price,  plus  the  amount  of  duty  and  less  the 
cost  of  overseas  freight  charges. 

Quite  evidently  the  loss  of  the  American  market  and 
the  accompanying  decline  in  price  must  have  severely 
affected  the  British  tin-plate  industry.  In  1889,  a  Mr. 
Taylor  (quoted  by  Curtis,  Vol.  I,  p.  321),  speaking  for 
the  English  tin-plate  trade,  pointed  out  that,  irrespective 
of  prices,  the  business  had  developed  steadily  and  regu- 
larly for  twenty  years  past.  He  said,  further,  that  if  the 
prospective  American  high  tariff  were  imposed,  English 
manufacturers  would  need  to  lower  production  costs  to 
hold  the  business,  and  that  this  could  only  be  done  by  a 
reduction  in  wages.    Whatever  steps  they  took,  it  appears 


186  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

that  the  English  were  not  able  to  hold  the  American  trade 
and  the  English  tin-plate  industry  suffered  a  serious 
depression.  It  will  at  once  appear  that  the  American  pro- 
tective tariff  was  not  conducive  to  the  enhancement  of 
international  amity  in  the  southwest  of  Great  Britain 
at  that  time. 

Why,  however,  was  it  possible  for  the  United  States 
makers  to  sell  tin  plate  at  no  higher  price  than  the  English 
product  had  commanded  before  the  protective  duty  was 
imposed  ?  Chiefly  because,  during  the  years  intervening 
between  1873  and  1891,  the  American  iron  industry  had 
been  developing  on  the  basis  of  vast  resources  of  coal  and 
ore.  The  increased  efficiency  in  this  branch  of  manufac- 
tures, acquired  concurrently,  extended,  no  doubt,  to  the 
making  of  the  "black"  plates  on  which  the  tin  is  coated. 
Moreover,  the  Cornwall  mines  were  no  longer  the  chief 
sources  of  ingot  tin.  The  Dutch  production  in  Banka  and 
Billiton  had  grown  so  large  as  to  preclude  any  possibility 
of  monopolization  of  the  source  of  raw  material  by  the 
British.  Due  to  these  factors,  the  price  of  domestic  tin 
plate  actually  declined  about  10  per  cent  between  1899 
and  1910,  and  this  despite  the  fact  that  a  combination  of 
manufacturers  was  considered  to  be  in  control  of  the 
industry.  That  foreign  producers  had  not,  meanwhile, 
lagged  behind  in  technique  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
many  tons  of  tin  plate  continued  to  be  imported  into  the 
United  States  for  a  special  purpose.  A  drawback  of  99 
per  cent  of  the  duty  imposed  was  allowed  on  all  importa- 
tions of  tin  plate  used  to  make  containers  for  American 
food  products  sold  abroad.  The  foreign  buyers  of  Ameri- 
can canned  goods  evidently  still  found  it  advantageous 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       187 

to  buy  the  tin  plate  needed  for  packing  these  goods  outside 
the  United  States;  which  meant  that,  even  if  prices  had 
declined,  domestic  consumers  continued  to  pay  more  for 
tin  plate  than  it  sold  for  in  foreign  markets. 

Moreover,  the  lower  foreign  prices  were  not  due  to  the 
pauperization  of  the  English  industry  from  loss  of  the 
American  market.  While  this  loss  brought  about  a  de- 
pression at  the  time,  because  the  equipment  and  labour 
force  in  England  had  been  developed  on  a  scale  to  care  for 
the  large  American  trade,  the  slump  was  only  temporary, 
as  is  evidenced  by  a  statement  in  the  Britannica,  Yearbook, 
1913,  page  568,  in  part  as  follows:  "The  revival  of  pros- 
perity in  the  tin-plate  trade  which  began  in  1898  continues 
unchecked.  .  .  .  In  1911  the  Welsh  tin-plate  trade  broke 
all  records."  The  increased  consumption  of  tin  plate — 
expansion  in  world  commerce  in  that  commodity,  in  other 
words — was  sufficiently  great,  in  the  interval  mentioned, 
to  permit  the  full  recovery  of  the  British  industry,  and  its 
continued  growth,  from  1898  on,  though  the  United  States 
production  had  meanwhile  been  added  to  the  world's 
supply.  American  production,  significantly  also,  had 
itself  more  than  doubled  in  volume  after  the  time  when 
importations  for  domestic  consumption  practically  ceased. 
Moreover,  of  the  total  world  production  of  block  tin,  that 
mined  in  England  now  only  constitutes  5  per  cent,  and 
the  English  tin-plate  industry  was  further  handicapped 
in  its  expansion  because  the  world  total  of  tin  mined 
increased  only  one  third  in  the  first  ten  years  of  the  new 
century,  while  the  price  of  the  metal  increased  threefold 
between  1897  and  1907.  Had  raw  tin  production  kept 
pace  with  the  demand  for  tin  plate,  prices  would  have 


188  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

been  still  lower  and  world  consumption  would,  no  doubt, 
have  been  even  greater. 

The  expansion  of  world  commerce,  resulting  in  part 
from  increase  in  population,  has  been  sufficiently  great 
to  account  for  the  fact  that,  whether  fostered  by  protec- 
tive tariffs  or  not,  the  older  establishments  have  been  able 
to  maintain  themselves  and  to  grow  despite  development 
of  the  several  industries  at  new  places.  Steam  transpor- 
tation is  in  large  part  responsible  for  the  rapidity  of  the 
expansion  of  world  trade,  because  the  carriage  of  bulk 
goods  has  been  greatly  facilitated  by  this  means.  One  of 
the  significant  reasons  for  the  increasing  efficiency  of  ship 
transportation  is  commonly  overlooked  and  is,  therefore, 
deserving  of  mention  here.  In  the  earlier  type  of  wooden 
ships  50  per  cent  to  60  per  cent  of  the  total  displacement 
of  water  by  the  loaded  vessel  was  due  to  the  weight  of  the 
ship  itself.  In  iron  ships  this  vessel-weight  displacement 
was  reduced  to  40  per  cent,  in  steel  ships  to  35  per  cent ; 
the  load-carrying  capacity  has,  accordingly,  been  pro- 
gressively increased,  independent  of  the  improvement  in 
ocean  transportation  due  to  perfection  of  the  propelling 
machinery.  There  is  no  limit  in  sight  to  the  world's 
capacity  for  goods;  overproduction,  even  if  designated 
"misdirected  production,"  of  any  commodity  having  real 
utility  value  is  scarcely  possible,  except  as  facilities  are 
not  available  for  its  economical  distribution  from  the 
source,  or  as  the  returns  of  labour  are  in  too  large  measure 
diverted  to  accumulation  of  capital.  This  last,  the  accu- 
mulation of  capital,  introduces  another  and,  in  recent 
years,  perhaps  the  most  potent  factor  in  the  perpetuation 
of  international  animosities. 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       189 

That  some  individuals  and  groups  within  a  nation  profit 
richly  by  the  imposition  of  protective  tariffs  may  not  be 
doubted.  Accordingly  they  accumulate  a  surplus  of  capi- 
tal, or,  what  this  amounts  to,  ability  to  command  the 
produce  of  others.  Certain  energetic  and  enterprising 
individuals  without  tariff  protection  are  also  able  to  amass 
great  wealth.  However  acquired,  this  wealth,  or  potential 
credit,  is  a  diversion  by  so  much  from  the  current  barter 
possibilities  of  world  trade.  Investment  of  this  wealth 
supplies  the  means  for  the  expansion  of  commerce  and 
industry,  but  the  interest  charge  that  the  owners  make 
for  the  use  of  their  funds,  levied  eventually  in  goods  or 
services,  maintains  a  number  of  potential  producers  in 
idleness  and  enables  them,  further,  to  command  the  ener- 
gies of  a  still  greater  number  of  workers  in  rendering 
personal  service.  If  everybody  worked,  and  the  exchange 
of  products  was  on  an  ideally  equitable  basis,  there  would 
be  no  limit  to  the  capacity  of  the  world  to  consume  the 
products  resulting. 

In  so  far  as  this  surplus  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  is  invested  within  the  confines  of  the  group  (nation- 
state)  which  has  produced  it,  the  results  are  simply  that 
the  workers  must  support  the  drones  and  that,  by  provid- 
ing new  equipment  for  production,  capital  in  time  suc- 
ceeds in  developing  an  output  in  excess  of  the  absorptive 
powers  of  the  group.  Needing  to  pay  a  continually  in- 
creasing percentage  of  their  product  to  capital,  the  workers 
can  not,  of  course,  acquire  and  consume  the  progressively 
expanding  volume  of  goods  that  results  from  larger  and 
larger  capital  investment  for  equipment.  The  result  is 
overproduction,  or  better,  underconsumption,  then  a  panic, 


190  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

accompanied  by  a  shrinkage  in  capital  values,  after  which 
a  new  start  is  made.  This  inflation-depression  sequence 
which  must  result  from  its  normal  functioning  is  the 
notable  defect  of  the  capitalistic  system. 

The  application  of  steeply  graded  inheritance  taxes  is 
apparently  the  most  feasible  remedy  for  the  evil  of  too 
rapid  accumulation  of  capital.  The  holders  of  the  sur- 
pluses have,  however,  meanwhile  solved  the  problem  to 
their  own  satisfaction  by  exporting  capital.  Exported 
capital,  in  vast  amounts,  has  been  used  to  exploit  the  re- 
sources, human  and  natural,  of  nearly  all  the  backward 
countries.  It  has  also  been  employed  in  new  developments 
within  the  industrial  nations,  but  outside  the  region  or 
national  group  where  it  was  accumulated.  While  the 
pressure  for  opportunities  to  use  export  capital  in  back- 
ward countries,  or  the  complications  that  result  from  its 
actual  investment  in  such  areas,  are  the  particular  origins 
of  much  international  hostility,  it  will  be  interesting, 
before  inquiring  as  to  the  reasons  why  this  should  be  so, 
to  consider  the  effects  on  national  economy  of  exporting 
capital  to  be  used  in  other  advanced  industrial  nations. 

Employment  of  foreign  capital  in  the  home  country 
under  the  direction  of  the  foreign  owners  would  seem  to 
be  a  development  especially  calculated  to  occasion  chauvin- 
istic heartburnings,  but  does  not  appear  to  have  caused 
any  popular  stir;  either  because  the  extent  of  such 
operations  is  not  realized  or  because  their  significance  is 
not  understood. 

In  order  to  avoid  the  payment  of  duties,  or  more 
strictly,  in  order  to  be  able  to  compete  with  the  native 
producer  in  other  countries,  on  the  basis  of  equal  cost  to 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       191 

the  consumer,  American  capitalists  have  in  recent  years 
set  up  branch  factories,  in  a  very  considerable  number, 
for  the  making  of  their  wares  in  European  countries.  If 
the  product  of  these  transplanted  industries  is  a  bulky 
one,  establishment  of  branch  factories  abroad  also  obviates 
a  large  item  of  cost  in  ocean  freight  charges.  Accord- 
ingly, American  sewing-machines,  printing-presses,  tools, 
electrical  machines,  agricultural  machinery,  and  many 
other  commodities  are  made  in  American-owned  factories 
in  Canada,  England,  France,  Belgium,  Russia,  and 
Germany,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  supply  the  domestic 
markets  of  those  countries.  On  the  other  hand,  the  activi- 
ties of  the  American  Alien  Property  Custodian  disclosed 
the  fact  that  some  seven  hundred  million  dollars  were 
invested  in  enemy  owned  and  managed  factories  in 
America,  producing  goods  in  the  United  States  that  had 
their  initial  development  abroad,  but  which  later  were 
made  here  in  free  competition  with  commodities  of 
American  origin,  produced  in  American-owned-and-man- 
aged  factories.  To  what  extent  capitalists  of  the  allied 
and  neutral  countries  were  operating  industries  in 
America,  under  similar  arrangements,  before  the  period 
of  the  Great  War  was  not  reported. 

But  it  is  sufficiently  evident  from  the  facts  available 
that,  while  the  home  market  and  the  home  price  level  and 
standard  of  living  may  be  maintained  under  the  protec- 
tive-tariff system  at  the  expense  of  the  home  consumer, 
this  system  does  not  prevent  the  export  of  capital  by  the 
domestic  producer  to  develop  industries  in  any  other 
country  where  there  is  a  market,  and  where  the  natural 
resources  and  the  efficiency  of  labour  are  such  as  to  enable 


192  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

him  better  to  meet  competition  in  that  country  than  by 
using  home  labour  and  home  materials  and  marketing  the 
finished  product  abroad  under  an  adverse  tariff  handicap, 
or  even  only  that  of  a  freight  differential. 

As  referred  to  the  promotion  of  international  amity, 
this  practice  is  actually  to  be  commended.  In  effect  it 
conforms  to  the  geographical  principle  of  production  in 
the  places  best  adapted  for  any  given  industry  and  nearest 
the  place  of  consumption.  If  the  workers  in  the  several 
countries  concerned  had  a  hand  in  these  developments  it- 
would  be  as  if  they  had  jointly  agreed  upon  a  live-and-let- 
live  policy.  But  it  will  immediately  appear  that  the 
workers  in  the  country  where  the  capital  originated  do 
not  in  any  way  share  in  the  profits  of  the  foreign  enter- 
prises that  are  set  up  with  it.  On  the  other  hand  if  a 
"favourable  balance"  of  trade  is  a  national  desideratum, 
it  is  also  evident  that  this  is  a  "fine"  way  to  pile  up  the 
export  figures.  For  the  German  owners  of  American 
plants  must  eventually  have  been  paid  their  profits  in 
American  commodities,  whether  by  direct  shipment  to 
Germany  or  shipment  to  a  third  country.  The  profits  of 
the  American-owned  industries  abroad  would,  of  course, 
offset  this  movement,  hence  only  as  foreign  capitalists 
made  more  out  of  the  American  business  than  Americans 
made  out  of  foreign  business  could  domestic  export  figures 
be  enlarged  as  a  net  result.  From  these  considerations 
it  becomes  clear  how  uncomprehending  the  average  citizen 
is  of  the  true  situation  in  respect  of  international  trade, 
and  how  futile  his  enthusiasm  over  either  export  or 
import  statistics.    Critically  studied,  these  may  give  some 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       193 

indication  of  the  actual  prosperity  of  a  country;  casually 
tabulated,  they  have  no  significance  in  this  connection. 

And  if  the  export  of  capital  to  industrially  advanced 
nations  that  impose  protective  tariffs  is  not  deemed  to 
involve  the  problem  sufficiently  to  negative  the  popular 
concept  of  international  trade  relations,  then  the  extreme 
case  of  the  French-Belgian  border  industries  may  at  least 
convince  some  that  there  are  complications  to  be  consid- 
ered. According  to  Raoul  Blanchard,1  the  Lille  group 
of  industries  "situated  near  the  Belgian  frontier  profits 
by  the  differences  created  by  the  custom  duties  between 
France  and  Belgium.  In  Belgium,  a  country  of  free  trade, 
where  the  cost  of  living  is  less,  Lille  recruits  its  army  of 
labourers  at  a  low  wage.  These  labourers,  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  proximity  of  the  frontier,  work  in  France 
without  losing  the  privilege  of  living  in  Belgian  territory; 
and  so  the  factories  of  Lille,  enjoying  a  protective  tariff, 
have  at  the  same  time  plenty  of  Belgian  labourers  who 
accept  a  lower  wage  than  the  French  could  do.  This 
artificial  condition,  favourable  to  both  employers  and 
employees,  is  the  principal  cause  of  the  enormous  develop- 
ment of  the  group  of  cities  comprising  Lille,  Roubaix, 
Tourcoing,  and  Armentieres,  which,  with  their  150,000 
workingmen,  form  one  of  the  most  important  industrial 
centres  of  western  Europe."  How  the  French  workmen 
and  manufacturers,  who  need  to  compete  with  this 
"artificially"  situated  group,  for  the  French,  "protected," 
home  market  feel. about  this  peculiarly  advantageous  com- 
bination, Blanchard  does  not  relate. 

1  Flanders,  Geographical  Review,  Vol.  IV,  No.  6,  p.  431,  Dec.,  1917. 


194  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

While  the  export  of  capital  from  one  industrially  ad- 
vanced state  to  another  may  afford  occasion  for  comment 
on  the  futility  of  protective  tariffs,  foreign  investments 
of  this  kind  ordinarily  give  little  reason  for  international 
complications.  The  only  person  who,  in  this  situation, 
can  be  held  an  offender  is  the  native  investor  who  exports 
his  capital  and  thus  promotes  industry  outside  his  own 
country.  Moreover,  as  indicated  by  the  figures  quoted 
above,  international  investments  before  the  war  tended  to 
balance  one  another.  If  an  American  capitalist  estab- 
lished a  branch  factory  in  Germany,  a  German  syndicate's 
American  promotion  in  the  United  States  probably  offset 
it.  The  element  of  political  danger  involved  brought 
"reciprocity"  of  this  kind  into  high  disfavour  with  all 
the  belligerent  Powers,  once  the  investigations  occasioned 
by  the  Great  War  made  evident  how  extensive  these  for- 
eign holdings  were. 

During  a  time  of  peace,  however,  investment  by  for- 
eigners is  unlikely  to  develop  economic  friction  leading 
to  international  irritation.  The  industries  initiated  by 
foreign  capital  give  employment  to  a  numerous  group  of 
the  population  in  the  nation  in  which  they  are  located. 
The  exporting  capitalist,  on  the  other  hand,  feels  that  his 
investment  is  sufficiently  protected  by  the  orderly  legal 
processes  obtaining  in  the  country  where  the  funds  are 
risked ;  the  sufficient  measures  in  force  there,  as  well  as  at 
home,  for  safeguarding  title  in  property.  Accordingly 
there  is  no  occasion  for  appeal  to  the  home  government 
for  support  in  these  foreign  enterprises.  Indeed,  as 
events  have  proved,  investments  made  abroad  by  the 
enemy  were  just  as  safe  as  investments  in  his  home  coun- 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       195 

try,  for  even  the  individual  German  capitalist  will  only 
lose  by  his  commitments  in  England  and  America  in 
accordance  with  the  ability  or  willingness  of  the  German 
nation  to  repay  him,  because  his  possessions  were  taken 
over  by  the  British  and  Americans  in  compensation  for 
war  claims  against  the  German  nation  as  a  whole. 

It  is  otherwise,  however,  with  the  export  of  capital  to 
regions  occupied  by  backward  peoples,  or  by  peoples  of 
high  cultural  status  but  in  the  domestic  stage  of  industry. 
A  very  large  percentage  of  all  the  difficulties  consequent 
upon  European  international  rivalries,  and  the  animosity 
these  engender,  find  their  origin  in  the  conditions  of  for- 
eign investment  in  the  industrially  unexploited  lands. 
Owing  to  the  high  degree  of  self-sufficiency,  attained  and 
attainable  in  the  United  States,  because  of  its  wide  terri- 
tory and  wealth  of  varied  resources,  and  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  opportunities  these  resources  afforded  were 
available  up  to  a  very  recent  time  for  virgin  capitalistic 
exploitation  at  home,  foreign  investment  by  American 
capitalists  in  backward  countries  has  been,  up  to  the  pres- 
ent, of  little  moment  or  volume.  In  the  last  score  of  years, 
increasing  economic  penetration  of  Mexico  has,  however, 
given  rise  to  the  same  sort  of  agitation  that  has  been  for  a 
much  longer  period  at  the  root  of  European  national 
jealousies. 

Brailsford  *  has  so  completely  set  forth  the  actual  con- 
ditions under  which  investments  are  made  in  backward 
regions,  and  showed  the  relation  between  specific  instances 
and  current  international  polity  so  clearly,  that  only  the 

*A.  N.  Brailsford,  "The  War  of  Steel  and  Gold,"  ninth  edition, 
London,  1917. 


196  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

general  outlines  of  the  subject  need  be  presented  here.  As 
Brailsford  puts  it  (p.  78),  "trade  does  not  follow  the  flag; 
the  flag  follows  investments."  The  foreign  trader  has  at 
stake  only  his  investment  in  the  deals  of  the  moment. 
When  difficulties  threaten  in  some  remote  region,  the 
exporting  capitalist,  on  the  other  hand,  is  tied  up  in  the 
country  itself,  his  capital  is  part  of  its  plant.  The  export- 
ing capitalist  is,  therefore,  wishful  above  all  to  be  in 
political  control  of  the  region  in  which  he  is  operating, 
so  that  he  can  guide  law-making  along  lines  that  will 
insure  him  the  greatest  profit  and  security  for  his  invest- 
ment. When  either  the  profit  or  the  security  is  threatened 
the  capitalist  quite  naturally  makes  an  appeal  to  his  home 
government  for  protection ;  and  intervention  is  the  logical 
result.  The  weaker  state,  or  the  people  of  a  backward 
region,  are,  by  armed  force  if  that  is  found  necessary, 
compelled  to  adjust  their  internal  affairs  so  that  they  best 
fit  the  needs  of  the  foreign  concession  holder.  A  first 
effect,  then,  of  foreign  investments  in  a  backward  nation 
is  to  lead  the  people  of  a  strong  nationality  to  make  war 
on  a  lesser  group,  solely  for  the  private  profit  of  the 
stronger  groups'  exporting  capitalists. 

While  side  issues  of  various  kinds  may  also  be  involved, 
the  true  basis  of  all  imperialistic  policy  is  to  be  found  in 
this  supposed  necessity  for  safeguarding  the  interests  of 
the  nationalist  investor  operating  in  undeveloped  regions. 
Attacks  on  weaker  peoples,  involving,  incidentally,  loss  of 
life  and  the  maiming  of  soldiers  of  the  invading  army, 
only  for  the  safeguarding  of  the  selfish  interests  of  the 
capitalists,  would  be  a  deplorable  enough  evil  in  itself; 
but  that  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  snarl.    The  exporting 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS      197 

capitalists  want,  not  only  to  be  protected  in  their  conces- 
sions against  adverse  political  measures  inaugurated  by 
the  occupants  of  the  territory  in  which  their  enterprises 
are  located,  but  also  to  be  insured  against  competition  by 
rival  capitalists  from  other  countries.  As  the  capitalists 
are  in  a  position  to  bring  strong  pressure  to  bear  on  the 
governmental  regime  of  their  home  country,  both  because 
of  popular  nationalist  sentiment  and  because  of  their 
financial  connections,  they  greatly  influence  the  home 
government's  "foreign  policy,"  and  cause  it  to  proclaim 
"spheres  of  influence"  in  the  undeveloped  regions.  The 
very  necessity  for  becoming  thus  nationally  involved  indi- 
cates the  possibilities  of  friction  and  dissension  between 
great  Powers.  In  these  ways  the  seeds  of  future  wars 
between  "rival"  industrial  nations  are  sown. 

Why  should  capital  be  available  for  export  and  invest- 
ment in  these  enterprises  that  create  international  discord 
and  war?  Why  should  capital  be  so  greedy  of  invest- 
ments in  backward  countries,  and  what  interest,  if  any, 
has  the  average  citizen  in  the  imperialistic,  sphere-of- 
influence  policy  and  the  conflicts  that  the  enterprises  which 
make  this  policy  necessary  evoke  ? 

Certain  efficient,  protected,  or  patent-monopoly  indus- 
tries in  the  exporting  capitalists'  countries  earn  exceed- 
ingly large  dividends;  Brailsford  cites  Lancashire  textile 
mills  paying  35  per  cent  in  a  good  year.  The  stock 
owners,  usually  comparatively  few  individuals  in  the 
cases  where  abnormally  large  profits  are  divided,  may 
consume  part  of  their  excessive  returns  in  luxurious  liv- 
ing, but  the  bulk  of  these  profits  serves  only  to  increase 
capital  funds.       As  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  home 


198  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

market  is  supplied  with  all  the  goods  (of  the  particular 
kind  produced  by  a  given  mill)  that  it  can  consume  at  the 
prices  that  must  be  imposed  to  yield  so  high  returns,  it 
follows  that  the  increased  capital  can  not  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage in  enlarging  the  plant.  The  alternatives,  there- 
fore, are  to  use  the  accumulating  funds  in  multiplying 
facilities  of  production  in  some  other  line,  thus  coming 
into  competition  with  earlier  established  native  producers 
in  those  fields,  or  to  expend  the  surplus  moneys  in  foreign 
investments. 

The  owners  of  the  lucrative  industries  might,  of  course, 
adopt  some  plan  which  would  reduce  the  rate  of  dividend 
and  thus  avoid  having  large  surpluses  of  capital  accruing. 
Part  of  the  profits  could  be  distributed  in  higher  wages. 
The  home  market  would  then  expand  for  all  kinds  of 
commodities.  What  the  few  capitalist  stock-holders  are 
unable  to  consume  in  luxurious  living,  the  many  wage- 
earners  can  readily  enough  utilize  to  purchase  comforts. 
Or  dividends  might  be  reduced  by  lowering  the  price  of 
the  product.  If,  then,  this  product  should  be  wares  of 
a  kind  for  which  the  demand  is  inelastic,  constant,  regard- 
less of  price,  the  consumers  of  the  nation  would  enjoy  a 
saving  to  use  for  other  goods.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
goods  were  of  a  nature  that  an  increased  demand  would 
result  as  prices  were  reduced,  then  the  wider  market  would 
lead  to  the  expansion  of  the  industry  itself.  Adoption  of 
any  of  these  courses  would  result  in  increased  prosperity 
for  the  nation  as  a  whole.  Contrariwise,  export  of  capital 
can  only  bring  a  home  profit  to  the  individual  or 
group  doing  the  exporting.  Nevertheless  nations  are 
called   upon   to  fight,   most  often,   to   protect   just  these 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       199 

narrow,  selfish  interests  that  are  involved  in  foreign  in- 
vestments. 

It  is  true  that  shrewd  capitalists  have  realized  the  possi- 
bilities of  expanding  home  consumption  by  reducing  prices 
and  paying  higher  wages.  A  certain  automobile  manu- 
facturer has  demonstrated  that  this,  theoretically  indi- 
cated, procedure  is  successful  in  practical  application. 
To  be  sure  the  landlords  in  the  vicinity  of  his  plant  imme- 
diately absorbed  a  large  percentage  of  the  wage  increases 
he  granted,  by  raising  rents.  But  even  if  this  action  on 
the  part  of  real-estate  owners  did  restrict  the  benefits  to 
a  narrower  circle  than  the  manufacturing  capitalist  had 
intended,  the  wage  increases  in  any  event  made  it  possible 
for  a  number  of  landlords,  who  might  otherwise  have  been 
unable  to  afford  them,  to  purchase  automobiles.  Thus 
demand  was  increased  by  at  least  so  much,  and  the  larger 
scale  production  resulting  made  it  immediately  possible 
to  reduce  manufacturing  costs,  and  this  in  turn  led  to 
further  reduction  in  the  price  of  the  product.  The  ulti- 
mate capitalistic  profit  was  probably  greater  than  if  a 
restricted  output,  high  dividend,  policy  had  been  followed. 

But  the  course  herein  suggested  involves  tremendous 
expansion  of  a  given  plant  and  eventually  vast  managerial 
responsibility.  It  is  just  because  foreign  investment  in 
a  backward  country  does  not  entail  this  degree  of  compe- 
tent and  persistent,  personal  attention,  to  insure  a  given 
return,  that  its  lure  is  so  great.  Investments  in  backward 
countries  are  "get  rich  quick"  propositions  appealing  to 
"slacker"  capitalists.  When  difficulties  arise  the  nation 
is  called  upon  to  pull  the  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire,  whereas, 
in  home  investments,  bad  judgment,  bad  practices,  and 


200  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

bad  management  result  simply  in  bankruptcy  proceedings. 
It  is,  therefore,  commonly  much  pleasanter  for  the  capi- 
talist to  maintain  a  tight  little  business  at  home  and  to 
speculate  abroad  with  the  fat  surplus  its  high  rate  of 
dividend  makes  available  to  him. 

No  very  searching  inquiry  is  necessary  to  discover  the 
particular  reasons  why  investments  in  backward  lands 
are  so  attractive  to  the  capitalistic  speculator.  These  ven- 
tures, (a)  afford  great  possibilities  of  getting  possession 
of  some  vast  natural  resource  at  small  cost,  (&)  they  offer 
opportunities  for  profit  by  "graft"  practices,  and,  (c) 
often  yield  large  returns  through  treatment  of  labour  in  a 
way  that  would  not  be  tolerated  in  the  exporting  capi- 
talists' home  country.  The  Russo-Japanese  War  is  said  to 
have  resulted  from  the  failure  of  Russia  to  keep  her  pledge 
to  evacuate  southern  Manchuria,  and  to  abstain  from 
further  encroachment  on  the  Japanese  sphere  of  influence 
in  northern  Korea.  The  Russian  bureaucrats  were  sin- 
cerely disposed  to  yield,  but  the  Tsar  and  some  of  his 
courtiers  had  a  rich  timber  concession  on  the  Yalu  River 
that  they  were  unwilling  to  give  up.  Consequently  Russia 
suffered  from  a  disastrous  war  for  the  sake  of  possible 
profits  to  this  little  group. 

In  Turkey  a  railroad  was  built  over  a  level  plain  in  a 
series  of  vast  curves,  touching  on  no  more  towns,  because 
of  its  sinuosities,  than  if  it  had  been  built  on  a  single 
tangent;  indeed  it  even  seemed  to  dodge  the  centres  of 
population.  The  explanation  was  simple.  The  company 
had  obtained  the  concession  to  build  the  railway  by 
bribery,  and  it  was  part  of  the  terms  of  the  contract  that 
the  Turkish  Government  guaranteed  a  certain  profit  on 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS      201 

every  mile  of  rail  laid  down.  As  every  curve  added  to 
the  number  of  miles,  and  as  the  profit  was  assured  in  any 
event,  it  served  no  purpose  to  cater  to  traffic  needs  by 
touching  on  the  spots  where  shipments  might  originate. 
The  profit,  moreover,  had  necessarily  to  be  exacted  from 
the  Turkish  population  in  taxes,  and  it  was  further  under- 
stood that  if  the  Turkish  Government  failed  to  pay 
promptly  the  fleets  of  the  capitalists'  home  countries  would 
steam  to  Turkish  waters  to  enforce  payment  of  the  moneys 
due  the  exploiting  companies. 

In  India,  cotton  ginners  work  seventeen  hours,  Bombay 
cotton  mill  workers  thirteen  hours,  Calcutta  jute  mill 
labourers  fifteen  hours  a  day.  The  wages  received  by 
these  Indian  labourers  range  between  five  to  ten  dollars 
a  month.  Even  if  the  long  hours  only  serve  to  make  up 
for  the  lesser  skill  and  intelligence  of  the  Indian  workers, 
competing  with  English  labourers  in  Manchester  and 
Dundee,  there  is  no  offsetting  the  fact  that  the  rate  of 
wages  paid  in  India  is  only  one  fourth  as  high  as  that 
prevailing  in  Great  Britain.1 

The  examples  of  exploitation  of  backward  countries  by 
foreign  capitalists  cited  above  are  typical,  and  it  is  evi- 
dent that  they  are  of  a  nature  readily  to  create  complica- 
tions that  eventuate  in  the  taking  over  of  political  control 
by  the  nation  in  which  the  export  capital  originated. 
Ignoring  the  possible  danger  of  a  clash  between  rival 
capital-exporting  nations  that  the  assumption  of  political 
domination  of  a  backward  region  by  one  of  them  may  bring 
about,  that  act,  when  accomplished,  gives  rise  to  further 
capitalistic   opportunity.      The   investors   of   the   nation 

1  Brailsford,  op.  cit.  supra,  p.   83. 


202  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

which,  under  those  circumstances,  takes  up  the  "white 
man's  burden"  are  then  assured  of  favoured  treatment  in 
connection  with  all  governmental  enterprises ;  particularly 
in  the  construction  of  public  works  of  different  kinds  for 
the  improvement  of  the  country.  Moreover,  there  are  all 
sorts  of  administrative  posts  to  be  filled  by  nationals ;  that 
is,  by  the  younger  sons  of  the  ruling  and  capitalistic 
classes.  James  Mill  defined  the  Indian  Empire  as  a 
system  of  outdoor  relief  for  the  English  upper  classes. 
Thousands  of  Britishers  have  official  positions  in  Egypt 
and  India.  Their  support  is  derived  from  taxes  levied  in 
those  countries.1 

Moreover,  armed  uprisings  of  the  native  populations  in 
any  part  of  these  dominions  necessarily  constitutes  a 
danger  to  the  life  of  some  relative  of  nearly  every  influ- 
ential family  in  the  home  country  of  the  ruling  nation. 
Hence  the  insistence  by  the  governing  classes  at  home  that 
any  revolutionary  movement  in  the  crown  colonies  or  de- 
pendencies of  the  empire  be  immediately  and  mercilessly 
suppressed.  Not  even  the  United  States  is  altogether  free 
of  that  particular  kind  of  entanglement,  for  if  the 
Philippines   are  granted   independence   many   American 

1  To  show  that  this  is  not  a  vague  indictment  based  on  conditions 
that  no  longer  prevail,  the  following  specific  and  recent  instance  is 
quoted  from  an  article  in  the  New  York  Times  entitled  "Egyptian 
People  Less  Anti-British,"  April  24,  1921,  sec.  1,  p.  19:  "After 
taking  their  degree  (in  England)  young  Egyptians  applying  for 
positions  under  their  own  government  are  given  subordinate  posts 
at  a  salary  of  about  $75  per  month  and  are  called  upon  to  instruct 
in  their  duties  the  younger  sons  of  good  families  in  England,  who 
have  been  pitchforked  through  influence  into  positions  paying  $250 
per  month  without  speaking  any  language  but  their  own,  and  with 
not  the  slightest  knowledge  of  the  country  or  its  people." 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS       203 

officials  and  school  teachers  will  no  doubt  very  shortly 
after  be  out  of  jobs.  Though  their  numbers  are  few,  in 
comparison  to  the  foreign-service  personnel  of  other 
nations,  nevertheless  these  Philippine  office-holders  un- 
doubtedly have  a  considerable  following  of  interested 
relatives  and  friends  at  home  and  together  with  these 
could  exert  a  considerable  pressure  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  status  quo.  It  is  easy  to  perceive  that  imperialism 
has  a  popular  appeal,  and  that  once  a  nation  is  embarked 
in  an  imperialistic  career  the  undertaking  can  not  be 
lightly  abandoned. 

Yet  the  cost  of  imperialistic  expansion  is  altogether 
disproportionate  to  the  gain  which  the  nation  as  a  whole 
can  derive  from  it.  Practically  all  the  vast  expenses 
incurred  by  the  modern  industrial  nations  for  armament 
are  owing  to  the  necessity  of  protecting  the  areas  that  are 
being  exploited  by  any  one  group  from  the  encroachment 
of  rival  exploiters.  Brailsford  x  estimates  that  of  the 
increasing  sums  which  Great  Britain  and  Germany  spent 
on  armament  in  the  last  hundred  years,  50  per  cent  was 
necessitated  by  the  question  who  shall  .exploit  Morocco, 
25  per  cent  by  the  Bagdad  railway  project,  and  the  re- 
mainder by  the  possibilities  involved  in  the  future  of 
China,  of  the  unappropriated  African  territory,  and  the 
like  unsettled  questions.  The  pressure  for  a  larger  navy 
in  the  United  States  is  due  to  fear  of  possible  European 
aggression  in  Latin  America  and  to  the  need  of  protecting 
Hawaii,  Porto  Rico,  and  the  Philippines.  The  obligations 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  have  the  merit  of  not  being  under- 
taken for  a  sordid  purpose,  but  the  cost  they  entail  is 
1  Op.  cit.  supra,  p.  247. 


204  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

nevertheless  imposed  by  the  possibility  of  imperialistic 
enterprise  in  South  America  by  others.  The  armament 
cost  to  Great  Britain  and  Germany  probably  far  exceeded 
the  total  income  derived  by  the  favoured  British  and 
German  capitalists,  and  the  place-holders,  from  foreign 
possessions  and,  even  if  it  did  not,  this  cost  was  paid  by 
the  peoples  as  a  whole  and  not  solely  by  the  individuals 
who  received  the  benefits;  as  it  should  have  been.  The 
average  citizen  derives  but  little  return  from  the  pursuit, 
successful  pursuit  indeed,  of  an  imperialistic  policy  by 
his  government,  except  as  his  warped  sense  of  national 
pride  is  gratified. 

Futilities.  That  one  term  would  serve  to  label  neatly 
the  complete  assemblage,  almost,  of  political  measures 
designed  to  promote  the  economic  advancement  of  nations, 
each  on  its  own  account,  selfishly.  Such  measures  are 
futile  primarily  because  they  are  nearly  all  conceived 
under  the  false  premise  that  complete  self-sufficiency  and 
independence  is  the  ideal  status  to  be  striven  for  by  each 
nation.  As  should  be  apparent  after  a  perusal  of  the 
foregoing  pages,  the  problem  of  international  relations, 
both  in  respect  of  greatest  economic  gain  and  of  continued 
amity,  admits  of  only  one  solution,  no  matter  from  what 
angle  it  is  approached.  Complete  economic  independence 
can  not  be  attained  by  any  nation  except  at  the  cost  of 
impossible  sacrifices.  Moreover,  not  only  do  the  devices 
and  stratagems  contrived  to  this  end  defeat  their  own 
purpose  often;  they  also  engender  international  rivalries 
and  the  ensuing  animosities  which  may  culminate  in  war. 
Neither  the  devious  intricacies  of  the  tariff  nor  imperial- 
istic  expansion    serve    the    common    good.      Individuals 


INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  NATIONS      205 

within  the  nation  may  profit  by  restrictions  to  interna- 
tional commerce  or  by  governmental  policies  in  further- 
ance of  imperialistic  expansion,  but  the  cost  of  these 
pursuits  to  the  whole  nation  is  more  than  the  aggregate 
gains  of  the  individual  citizens  who  derive  a  preferential 
advantage. 

Not  even  a  nation  so  happily  situated  as  is  the  United 
States,  with  its  great  wealth  of  varied  resources  and  wide 
territories,  can  hope  to  be  completely  self-sufficing,  if 
Americans  are  to  enjoy  all  the  advantages  and  material 
comforts  that  modern  industry  and  world  exchange  of 
commodities  have  made  available.  Some  almost  indis- 
pensable raw  materials  would  need  to  be  got  from  foreign 
sources.  And  even  if  the  raw  materials  were  all  available, 
labour  can  be  more  effectively  utilized,  in  fashioning  cer- 
tain products,  in  one  country  than  in  another,  and  it  is 
no  less  important  to  world  advancement,  and  specifically  to 
the  profit  of  the  United  States,  that  the  native  endowments 
and  acquired  skill  of  other  peoples  be  conserved  to  the 
purposes  they  can  best  serve,  than  that  domestic  natural 
resources  be  exploited.  Again,  the  undeveloped  resources 
of  the  land  occupied  by  the  backward  peoples  of  the  earth 
must  be  made  available  for  the  common  benefit  of  man- 
kind. Hence  it  appears  that  it  will  only  be  possible  for 
nations  to  exist  together  in  amity  and  to  enjoy  to  the 
fullest  extent  all  that  the  earth  affords  for  material  well- 
being  when  there  has  been  gained  complete  acceptance, 
by  all  national  groups,  of  the  principle  of  interdependence 
of  nations;  that  all  peoples  will  profit  most  by  so  func- 
tioning within  their  own  lands  as  best  to  serve  world  needs 
and  to  satisfy  their  own  wants. 


CHAPTER  VII 

INHERITING    THE    EARTH THE    TEMPERATE    ZONES 

If  the  civilization  of  early  Egypt  is  not  actually  the 
most  ancient  that  has  existed  in  the  world,  it  is  the  one 
which  best  serves  for  the  study  of  the  beginnings  of 
nationality,  because  the  record  of  Egyptian  development 
has  been  so  much  better  preserved,  or  at  least  better  de- 
ciphered, than  that  of  the  other  ancient  regional  com- 
munities for  which  this  distinction  might  be  asserted. 
Moreover,  Western  civilization,  in  its  Greek  and  Roman 
origins,  had  contacts  with  the  ancient  Egyptian  culture, 
and  there  has  been  a  progressive  geographical  migration 
of  the  centres  of  most  efficient  organization  from  Egypt  to 
Assyria,  Phoenicia,  Greece,  Rome,  Venice,  and  Spain,  in 
turn;  and  then  to  northwest  Europe  and  to  the  New 
World.  Because,  then,  there  is  this  line  of  connection, 
between  an  ancient  civilization  in  a  tropical  land  and  the 
modern  nationalistic  and  industrial  organization  of  the 
Temperate  Zones,  a  discussion  of  how  the  areas  of  the 
higher  latitudes  may  be  occupied  to  the  greatest  advantage 
of  mankind  may  well  be  introduced  by  a  consideration  of 
the  environmental  relations  of  the  successful  community 
economy  of  early  Egypt,  noting  particularly  how  the  situa- 
tion under  the  warmer  sun,  in  conjunction  with  other  fac- 
tors, fitted  Egypt  especially  to  be  the  cradle  of  national 
organization. 

206 


THE  TEMPEKATE  ZONES  207 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  Egyptian  civilization 
was  its  stability  and  endurance.  It  continued  for  periods 
of  five  Hundred  years  on  the  same  secure  basis  and 
practically  without  interruption.  An  Egyptian  super- 
Methuselah,  who  may  be  conceived  as  having  lived  through 
all  the  long  ages  of  his  country's  national  existence  and 
down  the  years  to  the  present  time,  would  no  doubt  regard 
the  many  and  varied  political  upheavals  and  territorial 
changes  that  have  occurred  in  the  European  world,  since 
the  decline  of  Egypt,  with  a  sense  of  insecurity  similar 
to  that  with  which  the  present  generation  looks  upon  the 
revolutionary  shifts,  separated  by  much  shorter  intervals 
of  time,  that  have  been  the  notable  characteristic  of  Latin 
American  history  since  the  Spanish  occupation.  Since 
Egypt's  day  and  particularly  after  Home's  decline,  the 
world  has  been,  and  is,  a  scene  of  turbulence. 

Nevertheless,  the  explanation  of  Egypt's  stability  is 
relatively  simple.  Its  fundamental  fact  is  that  the  land 
always  afforded  an  ample  supply  of  food  for  all  the  popu- 
lation. The  second  fact  is  that  this  food  supply  was  the 
one  opportunity  of  the  Nile  region  and  the  only  necessity 
of  its  occupants.  There  was  little  need  for  elaborate 
shelter,  or  for  fuel,  or  for  warm  clothing.  Except  for 
differences  in  the  degree  of  physical  leisure  and  of  per- 
sonal ostentation  possible  to  the  several  classes,  rich  man 
and  poor  man,  in  ancient  Egypt,  shared  alike,  to  their 
fill,  in  the  one  resource,  food.  So  abundant  was  the  agri- 
cultural yield,  indeed,  that  it  was  readily  possible  to 
divert  a  large  proportion  of  the  available  labouring  force 
to  the  building  of  palaces,  temples,  and  tombs  without 
impairing  the  standard  of  subsistence  enjoyed  by  all  the 


208  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

inhabitants.  Workmen  employed  in  the  necropolis  of 
Thebes  went  on  strike  because  they  failed  to  receive  their 
rations.  But  this  shortage  seems  to  have  been  due  rather 
to  the  lack  of  foresight  on  the  part  of  overseers,  in  keep- 
ing filled  the  particular  granary  from  which  the  workmen 
drew  their  supplies,  than  to  any  general  scarcity  of  food. 

The  Egyptians  of  the  Pyramid  Age  had  few  or  no 
contacts  with  the  outside  world;  they  had  neither  the 
occasion  nor  did  they  possess  the  means  for  foreign  travel. 
They  could  not  go  far  in  their  own  country  except  along 
a  north  and  south  line  and  it  was  both  easy  and  inex- 
pensive to  float  down,  or  sail  up,  the  Nile  on  a  barge. 
As  a  nation  the  Egyptians  did  not,  in  the  older  days, 
attempt  widespread  conquest.  Except  for  the  "monu- 
mental" aspirations  of  the  rulers  there  was  no  way  in 
which  wealth  could  be  dissipated  on  any  large  scale  to 
indulge  the  few.  Egypt  was  almost  a  socialistic  Utopia 
in  that  there  were  plentiful  nourishment  and  comfort  and 
amusement  of  the  same  kind  for  all  its  inhabitants,  in 
that  everyone  worked,  and,  further,  in  that  trading  for 
profit  was  practically  non-existent,  and  in  that  there  were 
no  capitalists ;  for  the  title  to  the  one  source  of  production, 
the  land,  was  ultimately  vested  in  the  Pharaoh  as  trustee 
for  the  nation  as  a  whole.  The  great  lords  who  controlled 
these  estates  were  only  the  Pharaoh's  stewards. 

There  is,  however,  one  puzzling  feature,  in  regard  to 
the  Egyptian  regime  being  so  long  and  uninterruptedly 
feasible,  and  that  is:  why  it  was  that  the  numbers  of  the 
population,  under  the  easy  conditions  of  life  that  prevailed 
in  the  Nile  valley,  did  not  outrun  subsistence.  Neither 
birth  control,  nor  infanticide,  nor  summary  disposal  of 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  209 

the  unfit,  infirm,  or  aged  seem  to  have  been  practised,  and 
there  were  no  decimating  wars  or  pestilences.  It  may  be 
that  the  successive  increments  of  land,  which  were  from 
time  to  time  brought  under  irrigation  culture,  provided 
so  disproportionately  great  return  in  food  as  altogether 
to  exceed  any  demand  due  to  normal  increase  in  popula- 
tion. If  increase  of  population  was  unrestrained,  this 
seems,  in  view  of  the  evidence  afforded  by  modern  census 
returns  of  the  rapidity  of  world  expansion  in  population 
possible  under  favouring  conditions,  a  most  remarkable 
achievement.  The  Egyptians,  however,  unlike  any  other 
nation,  despite  the  length  of  their  tenure,  and  the  strictly 
agricultural  basis  of  their  existence,  were  never  under 
any  necessity  of  practising  crop-rotation  or  other  devices 
to  preserve  the  fertility  of  their  soil.  The  Nile  flood, 
which  each  year  brought  the  life-giving  waters  to  the  land, 
also  automatically  renewed  the  soil  by  depositing  on  its 
surface  an  additional  film  of  fertile  sediment.1 

China,  practising  a  political  economy  similar  to  that  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  though  perhaps  on  a  lesser  basis 
of  fertility,  has  been  for  ages  a  land  where,  over  large 
areas,  because  of  the  density  of  population,  the  peasant 
proprietor  only  manages  to  secure  a  scant  livelihood  by 
dint  of  unceasing  toil  and  the  utilization  of  every  possible 

1  J.  H.  Breasted,  "A  History  of  Ancient  Egypt,"  pp.  92-93,  second 
edition,  New  York,  1916.  "Five  centuries  of  uniform  government 
with  centralized  control  of  the  inundation,  vast  systems  of  dykes 
and  irrigation  canals  had  brought  the  productivity  to  the  highest 
level,  for  the  economic  form  of  this  civilization  in  the  Old  Kingdom, 
as  in  all  periods  of  Egyptian  history,  was  agriculture.  It  was  the 
enormous  harvests  of  wheat  and  barley  gathered  by  the  Egyptian 
from  the  inexhaustible  soil  of  his  valley  which  made  possible  the 
social  and  political  structure  we  have  been  sketching." 


210  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

expedient  to  maintain  the  productiveness  of  the  soil. 
Surprising  as  it  may  seem,  the  Chinese,  despite  their 
intensive  garden-agriculture,  actually  waste  much  land 
that  could  be  cultivated;  in  the  boundary  zones  between 
their  small  patches  and  in  immense  areas  permanently 
devoted  to  graveyards.1  Yet,  while  under  British  admin- 
istration the  extent  and  yield  of  arable  lands  in  India  have 
been  increased  considerably,  the  increase  in  the  native 
population  of  that  peninsula  has  been  so  nearly  proportion- 
ate to  the  thus  augmented  food  supply  that  famine  threat- 
ens, much  as  in  the  past,  if  the  moisture-bearing  monsoon- 
winds  fail  in  any  year  to  supply  sufficient  rain  for  full 
crops.2 

The  decline  of  Egypt  began  with  the  regular  export 
of  its  corn  to  Rome.  Not  even  the  vast  surplus  of  the 
Nile  lands  could  suffice  against  the  indefinitely  extended 
drain  upon  their  resources  as  was  then  made,  especially 
when  there  was  no  return  in  kind.  The  Mediterranean 
lands  did  not  yield  nearly  so  richly  of  food  as  did  those 
of  Egypt ;  moreover,  the  Roman  cultivation  was  not  nearly 
so  intensive  and  systematic  as  that  of  the  Pharaohs  and, 
in  the  days  of  Rome's  rule,  was  notoriously  inefficient  and 

*L.  H.  Bailey,  "What  is  Democracy,"  pp.  127-128,  Ithaca,  N.  Y., 
1918. 

*See  E.  J.  Simcox,  "Primitive  Civilizations,"  Vol.  I,  London,  1894; 
J.  H.  Breasted,  "A  History  of  Egypt,"  second  edition,  New  York, 
1916;  A.  G.  Keller,  "Colonization,"  Boston,  1908;  J.  L.  Myres, 
"Dawn  of  History,"  London,  1911;  J.  Fairgrieve,  "Geography  and 
World  Power,"  New  York,  1917,  and  F.  H.  King,  "Farmers  of  Forty 
Centuries"  (China),  Madison,  Wis.,  1911,  for  more  comprehensive 
accounts  of  the  geographic  situation  and  national  economy  of  early 
civilizations. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZOXES  211 

ill-adjusted  to  the  actual  needs  of  the  mass  of  the 
population. 

With  the  shift  of  cultural  development  to  the  colder, 
forested  lands  of  northwest  Europe  the  relation  of  sub- 
sistence to  population  became  still  more  difficult.  In  the 
Mediterranean  area  man  is  especially  favoured  by  the 
absence  of  the  most  adverse  climatic  condition — namely, 
a  hard  winter;  because  of  the  protection  from  cold  winds 
afforded  by  the  east-west  mountain  barrier  to  the  north 
and  because  the  inland  sea  conserved  the  heat  of  the 
warmer  months  long  after  summer  drought  had  given 
place  to  winter  rain.  The  rainfall,  further,  of  the  Med- 
iterranean lands  was  seasonally  distributed  so  as  to  pre- 
clude the  growth  of  dense  forests ;  accordingly  it  was  rela- 
tively easy  to  introduce  the  cultivated,  grain-yielding 
annuals;  and  trees,  like  the  olive  and  sweet  chestnut,  that 
furnish  fruit,  oil,  and  nuts,  and  the  need  for  fatty  or 
nitrogenous  food  was  comparatively  slight.  Glaciation, 
moreover,  had  rendered  much  of  the  land  north  of  the  Alps 
intractable,  so  that,  even  after  this  land  had  been  largely 
cleared  of  forest,  centuries  of  labour  were  required 
to  make  the  ill-drained  surface  really  fit  for  human 
habitation.1 

In  other  words,  the  centres  of  the  most  advanced  civili- 
zation have,  since  the  time  of  Egypt's  apex,  shifted  to 
regions  where  sustention  of  human  life  is  a  much  more 
difficult  and  more  complex  task,  both  for  the  individual 
and  for  the  community.  Other  needs  than  those  simply 
of  a  full  belly  had  to  be  provided  for,   and  a  greater 

1  See  L.  W.  Lyde,  "The  Continent  of  Europe,"  Chap.  II,  London, 
1913. 


212  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

demand  has  been  made  on  human  energy  and  ingenuity. 
The  Oriental  culture,  developed  almost  exclusively  upon 
the  productiveness  of  the  soil,  still  remains,  as  in  China, 
but  it  is  a  mistake  to  think  of  it  as  comparable  with  that 
of  the  West,  and  differing  from  Western  culture  only  in 
kind  but  not  in  degree.  The  Western  culture  is  a  superior 
culture.  The  development  of  civilization  may  be  defined, 
not  only  as  that  of  progressive  elimination  of  waste  of 
material  resources  and  of  human  energy,  both  mental  and 
physical,  but  also  that  of  an  increasing  utilization  of  all 
the  resources  of  the  earth  for  broadening  the  life  of  man. 
The  civilization  of  the  temperate  lands  has  also  spelled 
advance  of  another  kind;  the  progressive  freeing  of  the 
individual  to  realize  his  own  life  in  fullest  measure,  while 
nevertheless  remaining  a  member  of  the  national  group. 
The  summer-winter,  forested,  glaciated  environment  re- 
quired that  the  individual  exercise  his  faculties  at  a 
variety  of  tasks,  if  he  was  to  make  himself  its  master,  and 
in  return  rewarded  his  specialized  effort  by  a  greater 
wealth  of  experience ;  which  connotes  a  greater  enjoyment 
of  life.  It  is  the  environment  of  the  temperate  lands,  the 
greater  complexity  of  existence  this  occasions,  that  has 
created  the  problems  of  modern  politics ;  and  if  these  have 
not  yet  been  solved  it  is  because,  so  far,  the  organization 
of  society  has  lagged  behind  the  requirements  put  upon 
it  by  the  needs  of  the  individual  in  the  higher  latitudes. 
It  only  adds  to  this  difficulty  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the 
expanding  Western  culture  is  striving  to  lay  its  hands 
upon  the  tropical  areas  of  earlier  development,  and  that, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  peoples  of  the  warmer  climes  are 
coming  to  a  realization  that  they  can  themselves  well  adopt 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  213 

something  of  what  has  been  wrought  in  the  West  and  thus 
anticipate  the  ordering  of  their  national  life  by  aliens. 

But  for  all  the  complexity  of  life  that  has  been  brought 
about  by  the  advancement  of  civilization  through  the  occu- 
pation and  domination  of  the  temperate  lands,  with  the 
accompanying  emergence  of  the  individual  from  the  mass, 
it  remains  true,  as  in  Egypt's  day,  that,  fundamentally,  a 
nation  can  prosper  only  in  accordance  with  the  measure 
of  resources  that  its  territory  affords.  It  might  indeed  be 
possible  for  a  nation  situated  in  an  altogether  sterile 
environment  to  get  a  livelihood  by  utilizing  its  human 
energy  only;  that  is,  by  depending  upon  the  superior 
quality,  skill,  effectiveness,  and  organization  of  its  people, 
engaged  in  the  conversion  of  raw  materials,  obtained  else- 
where, into  finished  products,  to  secure  for  the  group  a 
trade  residual  adequate  for  its  maintenance.  But  enter- 
prise so  conceived  is  at  best  handicapped  by  the  burden 
of  a  double  cost  for  transportation  and  must  rely  for  its 
very  possibility  upon  the  existence  of  world  trade  and 
world  commerce  of  notable  efficiency.  That  efficiency  in 
world  transportation  has  itself  needed  to  be  developed, 
hence  it  follows  that  those  national  groups  which  promoted 
the  development  of  transportation  notably  would  be  the 
ones  also  to  profit  most  by  its  use  in  the  way  suggested.  In 
fact  the  whole  structure  of  Western  civilization  is  so  much 
based  upon  the  growth  of  transportation  facilities  that  it 
will  be  of  significance  to  review  the  successive  steps  by 
which  this  development  in  efficiency  of  transportation  was 
accomplished,  and  how  it  brought  about  the  present  ex- 
pansion of  world  trade  and  Western  culture. 

By  contrast  with  the  isolation  of  Egypt's  situation  the 


214  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Mesopotamian  lands  were  located  at  the  very  centre  and 
focus  of  overland  communication,  where  routes  from  north 
and  south,  east  and  west,  crossed.  Thus,  while  the  earliest 
Egyptians  hardly  knew  the  meaning  of  trade,  the  Baby- 
lonians and  their  predecessors  for  long  had  been  active  in 
the  exchange  of  goods.  Bulky  products  such  as  lumber, 
stone,  oil,  and  furs  the  Mesopotamians  received  from  com- 
paratively distant  points,  in  part  at  least  conveyed  over 
water  routes.  But,  measured  by  values,  the  greater  part 
of  their  business  with  foreign  parts  (inward,  silks  from 
China,  perfumes  from  Arabia,  and  the  like;  outward, 
mostly  manufactures  of  metal;  all,  in  those  days,  costly 
goods  of  small  weight)  was  a  matter  of  transportation  by 
caravan.  Nevertheless  the  Babylonians  depended  for  the 
most  part  upon  their  own  acres  for  subsistence ;  the  rec- 
ords of  their  commercial  transactions  that  have  survived 
are,  in  the  greater  number  of  cases,  contracts  concerning 
land,  corn,  and  irrigation. 

It  remained  for  the  Phoenicians,  apparently,  to  be  the 
first  people  to  attempt  to  expand,  nationally,  independent 
of  a  supply  of  food  produced  at  home.  While  the  Meso- 
potamians were  situated  at  the  focus  of  a  number  of  over- 
land routes,  the  Phoenicians  could  depend  on  only  one, 
but  that  one  was  a  great  highway.  Yet  only  after  Egyp- 
tian and  Mesopotamian  cultures  had  been  long  established, 
and  had  come  into  contact  with  each  other,  at  first  in  war 
and  later  in  trade,  did  this  highway  assume  importance; 
for  it  was  the  easiest  route  between  these  more  ancient 
centres  of  civilization.  Once,  however,  trade  did  begin 
to  move  along  this  route  the  Phoenicians  made  it  their 
business   to  be  the   intermediaries  and,   so   functioning, 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  215 

profited  greatly,  as  middlemen  usually  do.  But  it  is  also 
significant  that  the  Phoenicians  did  possess  a  strip  of 
coast-land,  narrow  and  small  to  be  sure,  yet  sufficiently 
fertile  to  provide  for  their  need  of  food  when  they  were 
still  few  in  numbers  and  lacking  in  wealth.  Moreover  the 
Phoenicians  had  fisheries,  and  because  of  the  existence  of 
these,  probably,  they  got  their  first  introduction  to  trade, 
and  because  of  fisheries,  also,  their  first  ventures  in  over- 
seas navigation  were  made.  For  the  fisheries  supplied 
the  material  of  their  famous  purple  dyes;  and  textiles 
coloured  with  these  dyes  were  in  great  demand  among  the 
elect  both  of  Egypt  and  of  Babylonia.  In  glass-blowing 
and  metal  manufacture  the  Phoenicians  also  excelled,  and 
the  glass  sands  they  certainly  obtained  from  their  own 
beaches.  It  is  apparent,  accordingly,  that  Phoenician 
prosperity  was  founded,  at  least  initially,  upon  homeland 
resources,  and  in  this  respect  their  history  is  like  that  of 
other  successful  trading  and  industrial  nations.  Once  they 
had  become  established  as  a  commercial  people,  it  was  well 
enough  for  the  Phoenicians  to  depend  upon  Egypt  and 
Palestine  for  corn.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  also,  that 
the  Phoenician  business  of  importing  corn  was  delegated 
to  the  government,  further  that  the  foreign  grain  was 
probably  distributed  at  cost,  or  at  a  price  not  in  excess 
of  the  domestic  product ;  indicating  that  adequate  nourish- 
ment of  the  whole  population  was  regarded  as  a  first  essen- 
tial of  community  organization. 

The  Phoenicians  had  ample  forest  resources,  on  the  hills 
back  of  their  narrow  lowland  domain,  to  supply  them  with 
timber  for  building  ships.  Thus  their  very  venturing 
upon  the  sea  was  made  possible  by  their  easy  access  to 


216  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

this  form  of  homeland  wealth.  With  the  incentive  of 
needing  to  secure  a  larger  quantity  of  the  shellfish  that 
yielded  the  purple  dye,  and  with  material  for  ships  so 
readily  accessible  to  them,  the  Phoenicians  became  the 
earliest  nation  of  seamen  and  were  thus  the  first  nation 
to  realize  upon  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  combina- 
tion of  transportation  at  low  cost  and  trade  at  "opposite 
conjunctures."  l  They  brought  goods  from  regions  where 
they  were  plentiful  and  exchanged  them  for  other  goods, 
plentiful  at  another  place.  Theirs  was  a  frontier  trade 
at  both  ends.  Frontier  trade — that  is,  the  exchange  of 
goods  (like  glass  beads)  produced  cheaply  and  in  quantity 
by  a  group  that  has  made  some  advance  in  the  arts,  for 
the  intrinsically  valuable  commodities  available  to  a  bar- 
barous group — has  always  been  a  very  profitable  business. 
Frontier  trade  is  the  basis  of  the  foreign  trade  of  today  in 
raw  materials.  The  Phoenicians  were  not  only  able  to 
manage  that,  but  also  to  secure  a  large  quantity  of  the 
elaborated  materials  of  one  culture  group  in  exchange  for 
a  much  smaller  quantity  and  value  of  the  similarly  elabo- 
rated products  of  another  culture  group.  If  one  will  con- 
ceive the  French  and  the  British  to  have  no  direct  trade 
relations,  and  the  Dutch  to  have  commercial  contacts  with 
both,  the  profits  that  the  Dutch  could  and  would  take 
might  be  on  a  par  with  those  the  Phoenicians  enjoyed.  And 
because  the  Phoenicians  could  carry  bulk  goods  easily  in 
their  ships  they  did  not  need  to  confine  themselves  largely 
to  treasures  and  curiosities,  as  was  the  case  with  the  more 
difficult  caravan  trade.    The  Phoenicians  got  corn  and  oil, 

1 H.  E.  Gregory,  A.  G.  Keller,  and  A.  L.  Bishop,  "Physical  and 
Commercial  Geography,"  p.  215,  Boston,  1910. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  217 

wool,  bides,  and  block  tin,  and,  after  keeping  wbat  they 
wanted  of  each  kind,  used  tbe  surplus  for  further  barter. 

Phoenician  political  organization  was  of  tbe  nature  of 
city-states  and  their  colonies  were  trading  stations. 
Carthage,  originally  a  trading  settlement,  did  in  time 
become  the  metropolis  and  centre  of  the  Phoenician  inter- 
ests. But  this  transference  of  the  chief  seat  of  national 
activity  was  not  due  to  any  defect  of  the  home  site  of 
Phoenicia,  but  because  of  difficulties  with  their  Assyrian 
conquerors.  Allegiance  the  Phoenicians  were  willing 
enough  to  render  the  Great  King,  and  even  to  pay  him 
moderate  tribute;  but  they  balked  at  yielding  up  their 
maritime  supremacy;  therefore  they  moved.  Moreover, 
the  Greeks,  profiting  by  the  example  the  Phoenicians  had 
set,  were  so  successful  in  imitating  the  methods  of  their 
forerunners  that  they  were  able  shortly  to  displace  the 
Phoenicians  completely  in  the  eastern  Mediterranean  and 
Black  Sea  trade.  As,  therefore,  the  Phoenician  trade  in- 
terests came  to  be  concentrated  more  and  more  in  the  west, 
and  because,  with  Carthage  as  a  centre,  defence  against 
further  encroachment  could  be  most  readily  organized, 
Carthage,  quite  naturally,  increased  in  size  and  impor- 
tance and  eventually  dominated  the  empire. 

By  their  development  of  overseas  transport  the  Phoe- 
nicians, and  their  Carthaginian  heirs,  as  intermediaries, 
in  some  measure  carried  the  culture  of  the  older  civiliza- 
tions into  the  less  easily  occupied  lands  of  western 
Europe.  But  it  remained  for  their  first  and  most  apt 
pupils  in  the  new  art  of  navigation,  the  Greeks,  to  fix 
this  culture  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  and 
to  amplify  it  for  the  further  needs  of  the  world. 


218  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Between  them,  the  Phoenicians  and  the  Greeks  exploited 
practically  every  device  known  to  modern  nations  for  in- 
creasing the  prosperity  and  power  of  the  home  group. 
In  the  application  of  these  means  they  were,  however, 
limited  again  by  the  crudeness,  smallness,  and  slowness 
of  their  ships,  and  by  the  still  unsolved  difficulty  of  over- 
land transportation.  Either  the  one  or  the  other  nation, 
or  both,  developed  home  agriculture  and  fisheries,  estab- 
lished home  industry,  engaged  in  overland  and  then  in 
overseas  trade,  founded  trading  colonies,  then  agricul- 
tural settlements,  made  treaties  defining  spheres  of  influ- 
ence,1 and  engaged  in  military  conquest. 

But  in  their  indifference  to  aught  but  the  acquisition 
of  material  wealth  by  trade,  the  Phoenicians  made  a  mis- 
take which  eventually  cost  them  their  national  existence 
and  later  occasioned  their  complete  disappearance  as  a 
people.  Because  of  their  business  successes  they  were  led 
to  cut  themselves  off  more  and  more  completely  from  de- 
pendence upon  their  native  soil;  and  eventually  they  at- 
tached no  importance  to  the  homeland.  Hence  the  whole- 
sale emigration  from  Tyre  to  Carthage  when  Phoenician 
trade  was  threatened  by  conqueror  or  alien  competition. 
On  the  other  hand,  their  back-door  neighbours,  the 
Hebrews,  a  pastoral  and  agricultural  group,  persist  until 
today  as  a  type,  and  even  now  keep  alive  a  deep  affection 
for  their  homeland,  as  is  indicated  by  the  strength  of  the 
Zionist  organization  among  the  Jews.2 

The  Greek  competitors  of  the  Phoenicians  built  upon  a 

JA.  G.  Keller,  "Colonization,"  p.  37,  Boston,   1908. 

a  See  "Great  Britain,  Palestine,  and  the  Jews,"  pamphlet,  presum- 
ably British  propaganda,  publication  issued  by  G.  H.  Doran  Co., 
New  York,  1918. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  219 

more  secure  foundation.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
a  whit  behind  their  masters  in  the  matter  of  trade  prac- 
tices, but  their  city-states  were  primarily  agricultural 
organizations.  Like  the  Phoenicians  they  were  early 
troubled  by  pressure  of  population,  and  migration  to 
neighbouring  islands  resulted.  But  these  emigrant  colo- 
nies took  the  form  of  agricultural  settlements,  and  were 
not  merely  trading  outposts,  as  was  the  case  with  the 
Phoenician  colonies.  Perhaps  this  was  because  the  Greeks 
did  not  have  so  ready  an  access  to  food  supplies  as  did 
the  Phoenicians;  in  any  event  their  different  course 
brought  about  the  development  of  a  Greek  culture  that 
absorbed  what  the  Phoenicians  and  others  had  to  teach 
and  proceeded  to  improve  upon  it.  Yet  the  Phoenician 
and  the  Greek  environment  had  in  common  the  disabling 
fact  of  discontinuity  and  of  the  constant  invitation  of 
the  sea,  which,  once  mastered,  also  became  their  master. 
In  the  case  of  the  Greeks,  further,  the  topography  of  their 
mainland  was  such  as  especially  to  discourage  overland 
communication,  in  fact  so  much  so  as  distinctly  to  isolate 
the  several  states,  and  to  keep  them  disunited  except 
as  a  Philip  and  an  Alexander,  from  the  larger  background 
of  Macedonia,  compelled  for  a  time  their  acceptance  of  a 
single  rule. 

It  remained,  accordingly,  for  Rome,  extending  her 
power,  first  radially  over  a  compact,  unit  land  mass,  the 
Italian  peninsula,  and  then  stretching  out  by  sea  and 
land,  to  make  the  first,  step  in  overcoming  the  age-old  diffi- 
culty of  devising  means  for  easing  the  toil  involved,  and 
shortening  the  time  required,  in  conveying  goods  over  the 
dry  surface  of  the  earth.    This  the  Romans  did  by  invent- 


220  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

ing  roads.  On  the  stone  highways  they  built,  first  diago- 
nally across  Italy,  and  later  in  all  directions  from  Rome 
as  a  focus,  the  Romans  were  able  to  haul  goods  more  easily 
and  quickly,  and  to  march  armies  faster  than  had  ever 
been  done  before.  By  this  means,  too,  they  were  enabled 
to  keep  a  firm  grip  upon  the  areas  they  added  to  the  empire 
by  their  successive  conquests,  and  to  derive  from  these 
regions  a  livelihood  by  the  simple  expedients  of  enforcing 
law  and  order,  compelling  the  subject  peoples  to  work, 
and  by  settling  the  Roman  poor  upon  part  of  the  lands  they 
had  taken.  The  Romans  did  not  neglect  sea  transporta- 
tion, for,  while  they  delegated  to  others  the  work  of  bring- 
ing in  the  corn  for  the  capital,  they  used  their  own  sea- 
manship in  navies  designed  to  defend  the  carriers  and  to 
maintain  the  integrity  of  their  land  empire.  Following 
their  roads,  Roman  culture  spread  throughout  all  northwest 
Europe,  and  if,  in  the  confusion  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
roads  themselves  crumbled  and  decayed,  the  germ  of  the 
order  which  these  had  served  to  establish  remained  to  fer- 
tilize civilization  anew  at  a  later  date. 

Finally,  the  discovery  of  coal  and  the  application  of 
steam  power  so  greatly  enlarged  and  facilitated  transporta- 
tion possibilities,  over  both  the  sea  and  the  land,  that  mod- 
ern world  commerce  was  the  result.  In  effect,  this  expan- 
sion of  transportation  facilities  has  meant  that  the  cost  in 
human  effort  for  the  carriage  of  goods  is  so  much  reduced, 
that  the  assembling  of  raw  materials  for  elaboration  into 
consumer's  goods  and,  again,  the  distribution  of  the  finished 
products,  constitute  but  a  minor  item  of  the  total  of  cost 
charges  to  the  ultimate  user. 

The  foregoing  review  serves,  therefore,  both  to  bring  out 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  221 

the  importance  of  transportation  in  the  unfolding  of 
Western  civilization  and  to  re-emphasize  the  intimate  rela- 
tion that  exists  between  a  national  culture  and  the  resources 
of  the  land  in  which  this  must  be  rooted  if  it  is  to  endure. 
In  the  last  analysis,  "the  substance  of  the  state  .  .  .is 
always  a  territorial  society  in  which  there  is  a  distinction 
between  government  and  subjects."  *  The  primary  essen- 
tial for  the  existence  of  a  national  community  is  the  ability 
to  subsist,  initially  at  least,  upon  the  produce  of  its  own 
territory.  As  organization  promotes  the  growth  of  popu- 
lation, the  basis  of  subsistence  must  expand  proportion- 
ately. This  seems  to  have  been  possible  for  ancient  Egypt, 
where  subsistence  was  not  only  the  primary  need  but  also 
the  sole  need,  without  encroaching  upon  anything  but  con- 
tiguous, unoccupied  territory.  But  for  other  nations  the 
problem  has  not  been  so  easily  solved.  Either  the  nation 
has  needed  to  extend  the  space  required  for  sustenance,  at 
the  expense  of  neighbouring  communities,  by  annexing 
their  territory,  and  displacing  or  subjugating  the  natives ; 
by  occupying  new  lands;  by  dependence  upon  the  profits 
of  foreign  trade,  or,  finally,  by  developing  industry  at 
home,  coupled  with  the  exchange  of  elaborated  products 
abroad  for  food.  In  the  Temperate  Zones  the  problem  is 
further  complicated  by  the  needs  for  clothing,  shelter, 
and  fuel;  and  by  the  large  demands  which  these  needs 
make,  not  only  upon  the  national  resources,  but  also  upon 
the  total  energy  of  the  group. 

With  the  development  of  civilization,  and  the  multipli- 
cation of  discoveries  in  ways  and  means  for  the  harness- 

1 H.  J.  Laski,  "Authority  in  the  Modern  State,"  p.  26,  New  Haven, 
1919. 


222  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

ing  of  mechanical  energy  to  human  tasks,  the  problem  of 
national  growth  in  the  Temperate  Zones  has  been  so  far 
met  that  in  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
population  of  these  areas  has  increased  from  170,000,000 
to  500,000,000  *  and  probably  on  the  whole  with  some 
improvement  in  the  standard  of  living  for  all  classes. 
Certainly  many  more  creature-comforts  and  conveniences 
are  enjoyed  by  greater  numbers  now  than  were  available 
even  to  potentates  in  earlier  days.  But,  in  addition  to  the 
help  afforded  by  modern  transportation  and  machine  in- 
dustry, a  large  part  of  the  relief  from  congestion  of  popu- 
lation has  been  due,  in  the  several  centuries  just  passed, 
to  the  availability  of  virgin  lands,  all  in  the  Temperate 
Zones,  in  the  New  World  and  elsewhere,  for  settlement 
and  exploitation. 

The  major  part  of  these  new  lands  of  the  Temperate 
Zones  have  now  been  occupied  and  developed  to  the  indus- 
trial status.  The  leading  national  groups  have  found  that, 
with  the  change  from  domestic  to  machine  production, 
and  with  the  expansion  in  world  commerce  which  railroads 
and  steamships  have  made  possible,  it  is  no  longer  feasible 
for  even  those  nations  best  equipped  in  natural  resources 
to  be  self-sufficing ;  except  at  the  cost  of  lagging  distinctly 
behind  in  the  race  of  modern  progress.  The  interdepend- 
ence of  nations  which  these  changes  enforced  has  led  to 
the  development  of  economic  rivalry  upon  an  international 
scale,  each  group  seeking  a  differential  advantage  over 
one  or  all  of  its  competitors.  The  weaker,  or  less  ad- 
vanced groups,  have  been  exploited  by  the  stronger,  to  the 

xBenj.  Kidd,  "Principles  of  Western  Civilization,"  pp.  15,  346, 
New  York,  1902,  quoting  Sir  Robert  Giffen. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZOKES  223 

accompaniment  of  a  series  of  clashes  between  the  rival 
exploiters,  culminating  in  the  attempt  of  Germany  to 
revive  the  old  method  of  conquest  and  subjugation  by 
force,  and  to  apply  it  to  her  neighbours.  Finally,  with 
increased  understanding  of  the  situation,  brought  about, 
also,  by  the  modern  facility  of  communication  of  intelli- 
gence, the  great  number  comprising  the  bulk  of  national 
populations  are  pressing  for  a  change  in  the  economic 
order  which  shall  give  them  a  larger  share  in  the  available 
total  of  subsistence.  How  may  these  problems  be  solved, 
how  should  the  Temperate  Zones  be  inherited  by  the 
coming  generations  for  the  highest  good  of  mankind  ? 

It  should  be  recognized,  first,  that  nationality  will  per- 
sist for  an  indefinite  period  into  the  future.  As  has  been 
argued  in  these  pages,  nations  are  fundamentally,  and 
categorically,  territorial  societies,  and  regional  association 
is  the  natural  basis  of  the  group  consciousness  that  marks 
off  one  national  community  from  another.  It  may  be 
that  an  effective  world  confederacy  can  be  achieved  in 
time,  but  the  same  end  will  probably  be  attained  much 
more  easily  by  preserving  national  regional  groups  intact, 
if  the  preservation  of  nationality  is  coupled  with  progres- 
sive development  of  a  "live  and  let  live"  policy  in  inter- 
national relations.  A  world  state  would  at  best  be  a 
difficult  thing  to  administer  efficiently.  Despite  the  mod- 
ern speed  of  communication  and  increase  of  knowledge, 
the  mere  size  and  variety  of  the  world  is  still  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  any  one  human  being  who  might  be 
called  upon  to  accept  leadership  of  all  the  peoples.  A 
prominent  railroad  executive  has  recently  argued  that  a 
unified  railroad  system  for  all  the  United  States  would 


224  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

fail,  because  no  single  man  would  be  capable  of  its  com- 
petent direction,  and  any  scheme  of  control  by  groups  of 
individuals  would,  in  its  very  nature,  be  a  negation  of 
the  idea.  Indeed,  it  would  probably  be  better  for  world 
progress  if  the  self-governing  dominions  of  the  British 
Empire  were  each  to  have  complete  political  independence. 
They  could  then  adjust  themselves  to  their  environment 
without  reservations  of  any  kind. 

On  the  other  hand,  national  culture  of  a  distinctive 
sort  needs  to  be  fostered,  and  bitter  competition  between 
national  groups  should  be  supplanted  by  friendly  emula- 
tion. It  is,  perhaps,  too  much  to  expect  that  the  masses 
of  the  peoples  will  immediately  recognize  this  truth  for 
their  betterment,  or  even  the  reasonableness  of  an  inter- 
national programme  thus  conceived,  but  they  can  be  led 
as  readily  to  accept  it  as  a  basis  for  progress  as  they  have 
learned  to  accept  more  specious  doctrines  from  time 
immemorial.1 

On  the  economic  side  it  is  of  importance  that  attention 
be  directed,  and  kept  fixed  upon,  the  necessity  for  special- 
ization in  production,  both  with  reference  to  the  geo- 
graphic adaptation  of  a  country,  or  part  of  a  country, 
for  the  development  of  a  particular  industry,  and  with 
reference  to  utilizing  and  increasing  the  skill  of  particu- 
lar groups  along  special  lines.  The  localization  of  indus- 
try has  in  the  past  been  determined  by  a  variety  of  fac- 
tors,2 some  purely  fortuitous  and,  hence,  industries  are 

1  W.  G.  Summer,  "Folkways,"  pp.  47-53,  particularly  sections  54 
and  58,  Boston,  1907. 

*M.  Keir,  "Localization  of  Industry,"  The  Scientific  Monthly,  pp. 
32-48,  Jan.,  1919. 


THE  TEMPEKATE  ZONES  225 

in  places  ill-adapted  to  the  succeeding  growth.  As  cor- 
porate enterprise  has  played  a  larger  and  larger  part  in 
modern  industrial  projects  there  has  been,  however,  a 
notable  tendency  to  establish  manufactories  in  accord- 
ance with  geographic  indications.  Thus  the  location  of 
the  United  States  Steel  Corporation's  plant,  at  Gary, 
Indiana,  is  an  example  of  this  kind  of  predetermination 
of  a  well-adapted  site  for  carrying  on  the  activities  of  a 
new  unit  in  this  basic  industry. 

Whether  brought  about  by  expert  advice  to  the  corpora- 
tion's officials,  or  by  individual  initiative,  the  location  of 
new  enterprises  with  due  regard  to  sources  of  raw  mate- 
rials, power  supply,  transportation  facilities,  and  markets 
should  be  given  public  encouragement.  Facts  of  this  kind 
should  be  noted  and  given  prominence  in  the  public  prints, 
whenever  opportunity  offers.  Much  has,  of  course,  already 
been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  appropriate  regional  lo- 
cation and  specialization.  Environmental  controls  are 
occasionally  so  dominating  that  ill-adjusted  competition, 
set  up  because  of  man's  wilfulness  or  stupidity  in  the  face 
of  nature,  is  completely  eliminated. 

Again,  acquired  skill,  by  habituation  from  infancy  to 
certain  pursuits,  gives  certain  communities  an  advantage 
that  rivals  in  a  new  location  find  hard  to  overcoma  The 
growing  of  bulbs  and  the  diamond  cutting  of  the  Dutch, 
the  dairy  farming  of  Denmark,  the  watch-making  and 
milk-chocolate  manufacture  of  the  Swiss,  the  making  of 
shot-gun  barrels  in  Belgium,  of  Limoges  china,  of  Jena 
glass,  of  Parisian  styles,  the  production  of  various  Euro- 
pean cheeses,  of  Irish  linens,  of  English  woollens,  of 
Swedish  matches,   of  Japanese  lacquer,   the  growing  of 


226  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

coffee  in  Brazil,  are  all  typical  examples  of  specialized 
industries  owing  their  success  either  to  favourable  geo- 
graphical conditions,  or  to  particular  skill,  and,  commonly, 
to  both.  This  does  not  mean  that  because  the  French 
make  a  superior  grade  of  china  no  one  should  attempt 
the  manufacture  of  fine  china  in  the  United  States.  It 
does  mean,  however,  that,  except  as  assistance  may  be 
given  during  the  period  required  for  the  acquirement  of 
skill,  there  should  be  no  other  public  support  of  an  infant 
industry,  because,  if  the  new  project  has  an  adequate 
natural  background,  it  will  then  survive,  if  not  it  should 
perish;  and  both  the  capital  and  the  human  energy  in- 
volved might  better  be  devoted  to  more  suitable  activities. 
Thus  tea  can  be,  and  is,  grown  in  South  Carolina  to  a 
limited  extent ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  assumed  from  that  fact 
that  it  would  be  better,  nationally  or  internationally,  for 
Americans  to  attempt  to  grow  tea  in  sufficient  quantities 
to  supplant  the  Oriental  importation.  The  opportunities 
that  remain  open  are  so  many  that  there  is  in  any  event 
little  point  in  attempting  to  imitate  the  specializations 
of  other  peoples ;  it  would  be  far  better  for  each  group  to 
develop  the  products  of  its  own  peculiar  resources  and 
skill. 

There  should,  also,  be  a  greater  public  interest  in  the 
rational  utilization  of  the  national  domain  in  general. 
All  the  wide  programme  of  conservation  that  has  been 
outlined  in  recent  years  is  deserving  of  application  both 
in  America  and  elsewhere.1  Exploitation  without  regard 
for  the  future  should  cease.     Use  without  abuse  may,  of 

1  See  in  this  connection  "The  Foundations  of  National  Prosperity," 
by  Ely,  Hess,  Leith,  and  Carver,  New  York,  1917. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  227 

course,  go  on,  for  it  is  scarcely  reasonable  to  refuse  to 
use  at  present  those  resources  which  are  in  demand  and 
are  being  utilized  to  the  advantage  of  the  whole  group, 
because  of  a  vague  expectation  that  they  may  have  a 
higher  utility  at  some  time  in  the  future.  Particularly, 
there  should  be  public  encouragement  of  the  development 
of  water  power  under  such  regulation  as  will  insure  its 
full  realization  and  equitable  distribution.  Nationaliza- 
tion of  mines,  however,  for  example,  would  be  fraught 
with  so  many  difficulties  that  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
it  could  be  made  to  work,  even  if  nations  generally  were 
to  adopt  socialistic  schemes  of  control  over  natural  re- 
sources that  are  already  developed. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  good  reason  why  there 
should  not  be  larger  public  undertakings  of  the  nature 
of  the  irrigation  development  of  Western  lands  by  the 
Federal  Government  of  the  United  States.  It  might,  for 
instance,  be  quite  advisable,  as  a  public  project,  to  begin 
the  use  of  the  vast  deposits  of  low-grade  coal  in  the  west 
of  the  United  States  for  the  making  and  piping  of  pro- 
ducer gas  to  Eastern  centres  of  population.  The  result  of 
enterprise  of  this  nature  would  be  to  conserve  the  better 
coals  of  the  East,  and  also  to  check,  in  a  much  more 
effective  way  than  would  any  scheme  of  nationalization, 
the  monopoly-price  tendencies  of  private  coal  operators. 

To  sum  up,  it  should  be  the  keen  concern  of  all  peoples 
resident  in  temperate  lands  to  see  to  it  that  the  natural 
resources  of  the  national  domain  are  always  being  utilized 
as  efficiently  as  possible;  on  the  other  hand,  they  should 
not  be  jealous  of  the  successful  adaptations  of  other 
nations.     If  each  group  is  permitted  to  make  the  most 


228  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

of  its  territorial  legacy,  free  from  the  attempts  of  for- 
eigners to  render  their  endeavours  impotent,  a  long  step 
forward  will  have  been  taken  toward  complete  interna- 
tional amity  and  toward  the  provision  of  a  greater  volume 
and  a  higher  quality  of  consumer's  goods  for  the  world  as  a 
whole.  In  view  of  the  present-day  vogue  of  slogans  it 
may  serve  to  recommend  this  one  for  adoption  by  all 
nations:  Goods  are  produced  best  where  they  are  suited 
most. 

A  notable  phenomenon,  of  more  recent  years,  in  modern 
industrial  organization  is  the  increasing  congestion  of 
population  in  city  centres.  This  is  a  tendency  which  must 
be  combated  in  the  future.  But  the  remedy  can  scarcely 
be  found  in  a  "back  to  the  land"  movement,  as  this  is 
generally  conceived ;  for  machine  production  is  propor- 
tionately as  effective  in  extensive  agriculture  as  in  the 
elaborating  industries,  as,  for  example,  this  is  illustrated 
by  the  recent  success  of  the  farm-tractor.  Consequently 
fewer  men  will  in  the  future  be  needed  on  the  farms  if 
no  more  intensive  culture  than  has  obtained  in  the  past 
is  to  be  practised. 

But  it  is  desirable  that  a  more  complete  and  compre- 
hensive use  of  agricultural  lands  be  developed,  even  if 
this  does  involve  diminishing  returns  per  unit  of  human 
effort,  because  the  food  supply  must  always  be  the  critical 
factor  in  determining  a  nation's  standard  of  living.  While 
it  will  not  pay  to  divert  the  city  workers  from  their  skilled 
pursuits  to  farming,  an  equivalent  solution  of  the  problem 
would  be  to  ruralize,  or,  in  any  event,  distinctly  to  sub- 
urbanize,  the  processing  industries.  Because  of  city 
growth  and  congestion,  man's  home  space,  work  space, 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  229 

and  sustenance  space  have  each  become  distinct,  and  more 
and  more  widely  separated.  In  the  cities  themselves  this 
has  given  rise  to  the  problem  of  rapid  transit.  On  the 
other  hand  the  cost  of  commodity  transportation  has  been 
reduced  so  much  that,  except  on  very  bulky  goods,  it  con- 
stitutes, in  total,  only  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  selling 
price,  and,  hence,  may  be  a  negligible  factor  in  marketing 
the  product. 

Accordingly  it  will  in  many  cases  be  quite  feasible  to 
move  factories  away  from  city  centres  into  rural  or  semi- 
rural  situations,  yet  near  enough  to  the  city  to  retain  the 
advantage  of  the  metropolitan  market,  if  this  be  essential. 
The  greater  the  labour  cost  of  a  commodity,  the  more 
readily  and  profitably  could  such  transplanting  be  done. 
The  result  would  be  to  put  the  home  and  the  work  space 
once  more  in  close  juxtaposition,  thus  avoiding  in  part  the 
necessity  of  the  great  haul  of  human  freight  twice  each 
day,  now  so  characteristic  a  feature  of  city  life.  Further, 
each  worker,  under  those  conditions,  could  be  provided 
with  a  home  garden,  and  thus  be  brought  in  contact,  again, 
with  a  small  section,  at  least,  of  his  sustenance  space.  To 
this  garden  the  factory  worker  could  devote  his  spare 
time  and  there  could  be  secured,  in  part,  by  this  expedient, 
the  intensive  cultivation  that  is  needed  to  augment  the 
food  supply ;  while  the  worker  himself  would  be  furnished 
with  an  avocation  that  would  make  him  more  content  with 
the  routine  of  his  factory  employment. 

A  countryward  movement  of  industry  is  already  under 
way,  though  probably  without  conscious  intent  to  improve 
the  economic  situation,  upon  the  part  of  the  capitalistic 
proprietors.    The  practical  object  of  the  owners  has  often 


230  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

been,  rather,  to  secvure  cheaper  ground  rent  for  the  plant 
itself  and  lower  living  costs  for  their  employees,  than  the 
welfare  of  society.  The  especial  difficulty  that  at  present 
prevents  a  wider  adoption  of  the  idea  is  the  social  dis- 
advantage of  the  workers  located  in  isolated  communities 
out  of  touch  with  the  amusements  and  other  attractions  of 
the  urban  centre,  and  out  of  contact  with  persons  other- 
wise engaged  than  themselves.  This  objection  does  not 
apply  so  strongly  to  suburban  locations  that  have  frequent 
and  convenient  steam  and  electric  train  service  to  the  city ; 
and,  as  the  cheap  automobile  is  making  possible  a  dis- 
tinctly larger  content  for  the  social  life  of  the  farm,  so 
also  it  may  prove  to  be  the  lever  which  will  prise  industry 
from  its  city  confines. 

In  many  modern,  specialized  manufactures  it  is  also 
of  great  importance  that  the  processes  be  not  exposed  to 
the  soot  and  dust  of  crowded  industrial  areas,  and  this 
fact,  too,  may  be  of  significance  in  bringing  about  a  more 
extensive  movement  countryward.  The  printing  trades 
may  be  cited  as  an  illustration  of  this  motive.  Finally, 
if  the  profit-sharing  principle,  and  that  of  co-operation  in 
industrial  enterprise  gain  wide  acceptance,  they  may 
serve  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  sufficient  unity  of  self- 
interest  in  bringing  about  so  great  a  degree  of  solidarity 
and  coherence  in  the  isolated  group  as  to  make  it  willing 
to  forego  social  advantage  to  some  extent ;  in  view  of  the 
larger  return  on  productive  effort  which  a  suburban  loca- 
tion should  insure.  Under  these  conditions,  the  owners, 
the  management,  and  the  operatives  of  a  given  plant  may 
all  come  to  think  of  themselves,  together  with  their  equip- 
ment, as  a  single  coherent  unit  in  the  competitive  organ- 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZOXES  231 

ization  of   production,   and  will,   as  individuals,   act   to 
promote  the  common  interests  of  the  group. 

Considerations  of  national  and  international  impor- 
tance are  also  involved  in  the  possibility  of  re-combining 
work,  home,  and  sustenance  space  by  the  movement  of 
industries  countryward.  As  summarized  by  Taussig,1 
the  great  manufacturing  states  of  today,  England  most 
conspicuously,  depend  upon  the  predatory  cultivation 
(continuous  cropping  of  the  soil  with  one  kind  of  plant) 
of  other  areas  in  the  Temperate  Zones  than  their  own, 
the  United  States,  Canada,  Russia,  Roumania,  Australia, 
South  Africa,  Argentina,  Uruguay,  for  their  main  food 
supply.  As  the  thinly  populated  regions  become,  in  time, 
more  densely  inhabited,  with  the  accompanying  develop- 
ment of  manufactures  in  their  areas,  industrial  Europe 
will  no  longer  be  able  to  obtain  food  by  importation  from 
these  places.  "The  manufacturing  population  must  then 
go  back,  in  part,  to  the  land."  In  the  years  immediately 
preceding  the  war  the  exports  of  food  from  the  United 
States  were  falling  off  very  rapidly.2  Thus,  in  round 
numbers,  the  price-value  of  meat  exported  from  the 
United  States  declined  from  200  million  dollars,  in  1906, 
to  150  million  dollars  in  1913 ;  wheat  declined,  between 
1880  and  1913,  from  190  millions  to  90  millions,  and  corn, 
between  1900  and  1913,  from  85  millions  to  30  millions 
of  dollars.  In  actual  quantity  the  decrease  was  even 
greater  because  of  the  rise  in  prices  during  the  periods 

enumerated. 

1 F.  W.  Taussig,  "Principles  of  Economics,"  second  edition,  Vol. 
I,  pp.  534-536,  New  York,  1915. 

2W.  I.  King,  "The  Wealth  and  Income  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States,"  p.  252,  New  York,  1915. 


232  INHEKITING  THE  EAKTH 

If  past  experience  is  any  criterion  it  may  not  be  doubted 
that,  as  long  as  virgin  lands  in  the  Temperate  Zones  re- 
main to  be  exploited,  the  rapid  increase  in  numbers  of 
the  white  peoples  will  continue.  Willcox  *  says :  "For 
many  years  the  population  of  Europe  has  been  increasing 
with  unexampled  rapidity.  That  since  the  twentieth 
century  opened  it  has  added  50,000,000  to  the  numbers, 
or  about  4,000,000  each  year,  can  be  established  by  irre- 
futable evidence."  The  tremendous  expansion  of  popala- 
tion  in  the  United  States  during  the  same  period  is  a 
matter  of  general  knowledge.  It  may  be  possible  to  post- 
pone indefinitely  the  time  when  population  over  the  whole 
earth  presses  on  subsistence  in  accordance  with  the  doc- 
trine of  Malthus.  A  variety  of  developments,  discoveries 
and  devices  can  serve  to  this  deferment.  Extension  of  the 
cultivable  areas  of  the  temperate  lands  through  hybridiz- 
ing, and  through  the  discovery  of  drouth-resisting  and 
cold-resisting  and  short-season  varieties  of  wheat,  and  other 
grains ;  in  general  the  use  of  a  wide  variety  of  scientific, 
agricultural  practices  and  expedients  to  increase  yields, 
without  involving  more  human  labour,  will  be  one  way  to 
insure  the  postponement.  Again,  adoption  of  tree-crop 
agriculture  as  urged  by  Smith,2  the  exploitation  of  the 
remainder  of  the  temperate  lands  by  machine  cultivation, 
the  conquest  of  the  tropics  in  the  farther  future,  and,  ulti- 
mately perhaps,  synthetic  foods  as  suggested  by  Nicolai  3 
all  have  great  potentialities  in  this  connection.    But  in  the 

*W.  F.  Willcox,  "The  Expansion  of  Europe  in  Population," 
American  Economic  Review,  Vol.  V,  p.  742,  No.  4,  Dec.,  1915. 

2  J.  Russell  Smith,  "Industrial  and  Commercial  Geography,"  pp. 
655-664,  New  York,  1913. 

3G.  F.  Nicolai,  "The  Biology  of  War,"  pp.  49-53,  New  York,  1918. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  233 

ordering  of  its  economy  for  the  present,  and  for  the  imme- 
diate future,  society  can  scarcely  afford  to  rely  blindly 
on  the  probability  that  provision  of  augmented  subsistence 
will,  in  natural  course,  take  care  of  increasing  billions  of 
population.  Even  if  all  the  possibilities  suggested  do 
become  realities,  every  known  expedient  to  promote  more 
intensive  cultivation  and  to  increase  the  supply  of  food 
ought  to  be  resorted  to  immediately. 

How  narrow  the  margin  is  between  possible  food  pro- 
duction and  actual  demand  was  made  apparent  during 
the  Great  War,  and  by  the  high  price  of  foodstuffs  which 
afterwards  prevailed.  The  withdrawal  of  man  power 
from  agricultural  pursuits,  the  wasting  of  productive 
acres,  the  loss  of  tonnage  needed  for  the  transport  of  foods 
due  to  submarine  sinkings ;  all  contributed  to  bring  about 
this  shortage.  But  as  these  losses  were  offset  in  part  by 
rationing  and  by  forced  production  during  the  war,  the 
pinch  was  due  as  much  to  the  normal  narrow  margin  be- 
tween supply  and  consumption  as  to  the  peculiar  short- 
ages of  the  time.  If  it  were  planned  to  apportion,  through 
a  whole  year,  to  all  the  millions  of  people  now  on  the  earth 
as  much  food  as  each  individual  could  consume  enjoyably, 
it  would  be  found  that  the  supply  would  fall  far  short 
of  the  demand. 

Roorbach  1  has  supplied  a  concise  statistical  summary 

1G.  B.  Roorbach,  "The  World's  Food  Supply,"  reprinted  from 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science, 
Philadelphia,  Nov.,  1917,  Publication  No.  1148.  See  also:  0.  D.  von 
Engeln,  "The  World's  Food  Resources,"  Geographical  Review,  Vol. 
IX,  pp.  170-190,  1920,  and  V.  C.  Finch  and  O.  E.  Baker,  "Geography 
of  the  World's  Agriculture,"  pp.  8-9,  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C,  1917. 


234  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

of  food  production,  food  consumption,  and  export  of 
foods  in  1917,  and  points  out,  as  a  result  of  his  studies, 
that  the  "bulk  of  the  world's  food  supply  is  produced  in 
the  countries  in  which  it  is  consumed.  Sparsely  populated 
Argentina,  which  we  think  of  as  primarily  a  food- 
exporting  nation,  actually  consumes  nearly  twice  as  much 
as  she  exports."  The  countries  that  fail  to  produce  enough 
at  home  for  subsistence  depend  upon  the  slender  export 
surplus  of  a  number  of  other  nations  to  make  up  the  bal- 
ance. Countries  which  have  a  surplus  of  one  kind  of  food 
commonly  import  enough  of  some  other  variety  to  balance 
the  outgo. 

It  is  immediately  apparent  from  this  that,  altogether 
apart  from  considerations  involved  in  the  distribution 
of  national  income,  there  can  not  be  any  material  advance 
in  the  well-being  of  the  world's  population,  as  a  whole, 
except  as  there  is  a  disproportionate  increase  in  food  pro- 
duction over  increase  in  population.  The  world's  foods 
are  all  consumed  as  they  are  produced,  there  is  no  hoard- 
ing, and  there  are  no  reserve  stocks  for  seven  lean  years 
as  in  Joseph's  time.  The  rich  and  the  well-to-do,  however 
extravagant  their  habits,  can  not  actually  consume  food 
in  greater  quantity  than  do  other  individuals.  They  do 
draw  rather  heavily  upon  the  general  supply,  through 
their  possession  of  a  larger  income,  by  maintaining  a  wide 
variety  of  servitors  to  cater  to  their  personal  wants,  thus 
keeping  that  many  of  the  total  population  out,  of  produc- 
tive effort,  as,  for  example,  the  more  intensive  cultivation 
of  the  land.  But  even  if  all  the  parasites  on  society  were 
compelled  to  work  on  farms,  the  sum  of  their  labour, 
assuming  it  to  be  effectively  applied,  would  not  contribute 


THE  TEMPEKATE  ZONES  235 

materially  toward  a  more  adequate  feeding  of  the  present 
population  of  the  world.  Population  tends  always  to  press 
upon  subsistence,  and  the  numbers  of  mankind  are  now 
too  great  to  permit  the  hunger  of  every  individual  to  be 
satisfied  regularly  and  completely. 

A  number  of  possible  remedies  for  this  condition  pre- 
sent themselves.  One  is  the  elimination  of  all  actual 
waste,  resulting  from  the  extravagance  and  the  unproduc- 
tiveness of  the  personal  servitors  and  of  the  idle  rich. 
This  is  the  remedy  that  is  most  persistently  urged  by  social 
reformers  and,  during  the  war,  the  work-or-fight  rule, 
coupled  with  food-saving,  gave  some  index  as  to  what 
might  be  accomplished  in  this  direction.  If  similar  re- 
strictions upon  personal  indulgence  could  be  enforced  in 
peace  times,  and  the  resulting  economies  diverted  to  the 
general  welfare,  as  in  war  time  they  were  diverted  to 
military  purposes,  a  considerable  alleviation  of  the  food 
pressure  would  result.  The  surplus  of  workers  could  then 
be  used  for  more  intensive  cultivation  of  the  land. 

A  second  remedy  will  be  the  opening  up  of  all  possible 
new  lands  to  cultivation.  Organized  effort  to  this  end 
has  been  actually  in  progress  in  the  South  American 
states.  Chile,  Argentina,  and  Brazil  have  at  various 
times  encouraged  the  immigration  into  their  lands  of  large 
groups  of  European  peoples.  All  homesteading  and 
colonizing  offers,  as,  for  instance,  that  of  Canada  during 
recent  years  are  of  the  same  nature. 

As  a  corollary  to  this,  however,  there  should  be  a  stop- 
page of  immigration  into  all  countries  so  far  industrially 
developed  that  they  produce  no  surplus  of  food  over  home 
consumption.     This  restriction  would  apply  to  the  United 


236  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

States.  It  might  reasonably  be  expected  that  the  standard 
of  comfort  of  the  least  well  provided  for  in  nations  so 
circumstanced  would  then  rise,  and,  with  proper  educa- 
tional measures,  that  a  general  improvement  in  the  well- 
being  of  the  whole  population  could  be  brought  about.  If 
closing  of  the  doors  to  all  immigrants  seems  a  trifle  dras- 
tic it  would  perhaps  suffice  to  accomplish  the  same  end 
if  immigration  were  permitted  only  when  it  could  be 
shown  that  there  was  a  distinct  need  for  a  particular 
number  and  kind  of  additional  population,  and  that  there 
was  a  sufficient  margin  of  subsistence  to  make  possible 
their  maintenance  at  the  same  satisfactory  level  already 
existing  in  the  group. 

But  these  are  in  the  main  only  expedients.  The  real 
solution  lies  in  checking  the  increase  of  population 
throughout  the  world,  or  as  referred  to  the  Temperate 
Zones,  in  the  white  race.  The  limitation  of  immigration, 
suggested  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  would  be  an  effec- 
tive factor  in  halting  the  increase,  and  would  perhaps 
even  serve  to  promote  some  decrease  in  the  existing  num- 
bers. For  if  the  emigration  outlet  were  almost  completely 
closed  to  regions  having  a  redundant  population,  the  peo- 
ples of  those  regions  would  experience  the  subsistence 
pinch  more  severely  than  now.  The  opportunity,  opened 
occasionallv  to  a  few  of  their  number,  to  emigrate  into 
the  lands  having  less  dense  population  and  greater  re- 
sources per  human  unit  would  then  appear  golden.  Thus 
taught,  the  lesson  of  the  evils  of  over-population  would 
be  quickly  learned. 

In  fact,  this  lesson  of  checking  the  increase  by  pruden- 
tial restraint  in  marriage  has  been  learned  by  nations; 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  237 

but  not  before  the  numbers  had  become  so  great  as  to  make 
the  standard  of  living  generally  too  low.  France,  before 
the  war,  had  an  almost  stationary  population,  and  statis- 
tics from  other  European  nations  indicated  a  tendency 
toward  establishing  an  equilibrium  between  the  birth-rate 
and  the  death-rate.  But  it  is  notorious  that  practically  all 
of  the  vast  number  of  American  soldiers  who  were  com- 
pelled to  witness  the  penurious  frugality  by  which  the 
French  peasants  maintain  themselves,  a  frugality  which 
makes  it  possible  for  France  to  produce  93  per  cent 
(Roorbach)  of  the  national  food  at  home,  were  disgusted 
with  the  manner  of  life  this  entailed  upon  the  agricultural 
population  of  that  country. 

The  question  that  the  conditions  of  equivalence  of 
population  and  subsistence  in  France  immediately  raises 
is:  Would  a  further  reduction  in  the  numbers  result  in 
a  higher  standard  of  living  for  the  French  people?  The 
answer  to  this  question  may  be  in  the  affirmative.  There 
would  be  fewer  cultivators  of  the  soil,  and  the  toilsome, 
inefficient,  small-scale  hand  agriculture  of  the  French, 
that  so  irritated  the  Americans,  would  be  replaced  by 
machine  cultivation;  without  great  impairment,  perhaps, 
indeed,  with  an  increase,  of  the  total  crop  secured. 
Effective  labour  would  replace  cheap  labour.  The  agri- 
cultural yield  per  unit  of  human  effort  would  increase. 
Higher  wages  would  result  and,  with  these,  increased 
demand  for  products  other  than  food,  since  the  consum- 
ing power  of  the  nation  as  a  whole  would  thus  be 
enhanced. 

In  this  some  critics  may  see  merely  a  round  of  rising 
prices,  with  no  actual  gain  in  quantity  of  commodities. 


238  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

But  their  contention  would  fail  to  take  into  account  that, 
with  a  diminished  supply  of  man  power,  an  expanding 
market  for  goods  at  home,  and  a  greater  production  of 
food,  the  rate  *  of  profit  on  invested  capital  must  decrease, 
though  the  total  sum  realized  from  its  employment  may 
remain  as  great  as  when  labour  is  cheap  and  the  workers 
are  undernourished.  In  other  words,  capital  must  then 
expect  to  operate  on  a  narrower  margin,  and  to  depend 
on  quantity  production.  This  demands  more  efficient 
production,  more  complete  and  more  frequent  turnover. 
Capitalists  will  need  to  recognize  that  this  is  the  solution 
of  their  problem,  and,  once  they  do,  contention  between 
capital  and  labour  will  subside.  Certain  astute  employ- 
ing manufacturers  in  America  have  already  grasped  this 
principle  and,  by  paying  higher  wages,  they  are  securing 
the  most  efficient  labour  for  production  in  quantity,  hence 
are  avoiding  labour  troubles  in  their  enterprises,  and  are 
occupying  a  place  in  the  van  of  capitalistic  progress  while 
their  fellows  at  the  tail  of  the  procession  are  succeeding 
only  in  creating  disorder  in  the  ranks. 

It  should  be  recognized  that  the  world's  potential  de- 
mand for  commodities  is  practically  unlimited.  Nine- 
tenths  of  the  population  of  the  more  advanced  countries 
could  very  properly  enjoy  better  housing,  better  clothes, 
and  the  opportunity  to  travel  by  train  or  automobile. 
They  are  deterred  from  securing  these  things,  in  part,  by 
faulty  distribution  of  income,  but  vastly  more  by  the 
inadequacy  of  total  production.  The  difficulty  is  not 
altogether  that  the  sum  of  income  now  available  is  no  more 

1  J.  M.  Robertson,  "The  Economics  of  Progress,"  p.   109,  London, 
1918.     See  also  his  chapters  on  population. 


THE  TEMPEEATE  ZONES  239 

equitably  distributed,  but  that  the  totality  of  production 
is  not  vastly  increased,  with  proportionate  increase  in  the 
consuming  power,  due  to  the  share  of  the  workers,  gener- 
ally, in  the  augmented  production.  Hence  the  need  for 
developing  the  resources  of  each  region  in  accordance 
with  its  comparative  endowment. 

Produce  all  things  in  the  regions  best  adapted  to  them 
irrespective  of  country.  Let  immigrants  go  into  areas 
where  an  increase  of  population  will  mean  production  of 
an  increasing  surplus  of  food  for  export.  In  each  region 
where  production  of  food  is  not  adequate  for  the  comfort- 
able subsistence  of  all  the  existing  population  let  there 
be  a  declining  birth-rate,  more  and  better  educated,  com- 
petent individuals,  capable  of  making  the  best  possible 
use  of  the  environmental  provision  peculiar  to  each  area. 
Then  a  surplus  of  certain  commodities  should  be  avail- 
able to  be  used  in  exchange  for  the  surplus  of  other  kinds 
of  goods  similarly  made  available  in  other  regions. 

The  share  that  each  class  of  producers  shall  receive  for 
its  services  will  need  to  be  differently  apportioned  than 
now,  if  the  resources  of  the  world  are  to  be  thus  more 
rationally  utilized.  The  necessity  of  obtaining  a  mere 
livelihood,  coupled  with  ignorance  and  lack  of  opportu- 
nity, on  the  part  of  the  majority  of  workers  (in  the  pres- 
ent state  of  overpopulation  of  the  earth  in  relation  to  the 
food  supply)  has  resulted  in  the  least  skillful  and  most 
toilsome  labour  receiving  the  lowest  pay.  Once  livelihood 
is  provided  for,  and  education  made  possible,  the  read- 
justment required  will  ensue  as  a  result  of  competition 
between  the  producers  themselves.  To  a  certain  degree 
this  has  already  occurred.     A  manual  labourer  was  once 


240  INHEKITING  THE  EAETH 

lowest  in  the  scale  of  wage-earners.  Today  clerical  work- 
ers evidently  occupy  that  position  in  the  most  advanced 
countries.  Higher  money  rewards 'are  now  obtained  by 
all  ranks  of  manual  toilers  but,  because  of  the  normal 
distaste  for  physical  exertion,  clerks  are  in  plentiful  sup- 
ply, and  they  get,  accordingly,  a  lower  return  for  their 
services.  Children,  though  of  parents  who,  under  the 
present  order  of  production  and  distribution,  are  in  suffi- 
ciently comfortable  circumstances  to  assure  that  the  wolf 
will  be  kept  from  the  door,  are  in  recent  years  constantly 
making  a  choice  of  their  own  careers  between  lucrative, 
if  distasteful,  occupations  and  the  more  "genteel"  clerical 
places  that  do  not  pay  so  well. 

But  if  capital  is  not  in  the  future  to  have  so  large  a 
rate  of  return,  as  in  the  past,  from  employment  in  the 
enterprises  of  the  advanced  industrial  nations,  will  not 
capital  immediately  be  exported  for  application  in  more 
backward  countries  ?  There  can  be  no  question  but  that 
a  first  concern  of  capitalists  is  in  the  percentage  of  profit 
different  employments  of  their  funds  may  get  them. 
Totality  of  return  may,  under  the  circumstances  set  forth 
above,  continue  equal  to  what  it  has  been,  but  only  on  the 
basis  of  ability  in  investment  and  management;  in  other 
words,  in  so  far  as  the  capitalists  themselves  are  able  to 
make  their  funds  contribute  to  efficient  production.  In 
this  the  measure  of  capital  enterprise  will  be  taken. 
Accordingly  the  possibility  of  escape  from  this  obligation, 
and  test  of  fitness,  through  export  of  wealth,  will  appeal 
to  incompetent  and  slothful  capitalists. 

Organized  labour  has  recognized  a  danger  to  its  aims 
in  the  exportation  of  capital.     In  an  account  by  W.  E. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  241 

Walling  in  the  New  York  Times'1  of  the  International 
Federation  of  Trades  Unions'  congress  held  at  Amster- 
dam, it  is  stated  that  the  French  Socialists,  replying  to 
criticisms  directed  at  the  labour  clauses  in  the  League  of 
Nations  Covenant,  pointed  out  that  "the  very  purpose 
of  international  labour  legislation  would  be  not  to  advance 
the  already  advanced  nations,  so  much  as  to  level  up  the 
small  and  backward  nations — whose  competition  was 
likely  to  drag  the  others  down."  There  is  no  question  but 
that  a  League  of  Nations  could  be  made  a  very  effective 
instrumentality  in  mitigating  the  exploitation  of  back- 
ward peoples.  If  capital  invested  in  regions  occupied  by 
groups  not  developed  to  machine  industry  were  compelled 
to  pay,  either  to  the  workers  directly  or  into  the  public 
treasury  of  their  governments,  in  taxes,  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  profit  as  would  establish  an  essential  equiva- 
lence between  labour  costs  in  the  advanced  and  the  back- 
ward nations,  one  of  the  great  temptations  to  export  capi- 
tal would  be  removed.  It  is  no  doubt  substantially  this 
objective  that  was  sought  by  the  Carranza  government 
in  Mexico  with  its  nationalization  scheme.2  While 
moneys  so  paid  in  to  the  governments  of  the  backward 
peoples  would,  in  many  cases,  be  dissipated  by  grafting 
politicians,  inequalities  in  the  distribution  of  wealth  re- 
sulting from  the  unrestricted  exploitation  of  the  natural 

^ct.  26,   1919,  sec.  10,  p.  6,  col.  2. 

2  The  New  York  Times,  Oct.  26,  1919,  sec.  3,  p.  3,  quoting  the 
Mexican  newspaper  El  Universal,  lists  British  companies  with  a 
capitalization  of  $120,000,000  engaged  in  exploitation  of  Mexican 
oil,  and  about  $380,000,000  more  in  other  Mexican  investments  of 
similar  nature.  See  also  article  on  "Carranza  and  World  Oil 
Monopoly,"  same  issue,  same  section,  p.  6,  of  New  York  Times. 


242  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

resources  of  these  regions  would,  even  so,  be  in  some 
degree  smoothed  out,  and  an  effective  curb  put  on  the 
operations  of  speculative  foreign  corporations.  At  best 
revenues  thus  derived  would  be  used  for  permanent  public 
improvements  in  the  region  of  production  and  thus  would 
bring  about  a  rational  development  of  additional  areas  of 
the  earth's  surface. 

The  League  of  Nations  may  also  be  the  means  avail- 
able to  bring  about  a  wider  adoption  of  the  open-door 
policy  and  it®  stricter  enforcement.  As  Hobson  1  points 
out,  the  fear  of  nations  of  "close  colonization"  policies 
on  the  part  of  their  rivals  is  largely  responsible  for  inter- 
national friction.  Once  a  backward  region  is  marked  off 
to  the  degree  only  of  a  "sphere  of  influence"  by  one  set 
of  nationalist  traders  and  exploiters  it  is  unlikely  that 
competitor-nation  groups  with  capital  to  invest  will  have 
much  opportunity  of  participating  in  the  "opening  up" 
of  that  area. 

In  the  words  of  Robertson,2  "the  poverty  of  any  one 
state  is  a  handicap  to  all."  For  "if  home  trade  meant  the 
possible  maximum  of  production,  it  should  be  secured 
within  the  township  or  at  least  within  the  county."  If 
the  "county  can  not  yield  all  the  possible  supply  or  all 
the  possible  demand  as  regards  any  one  form  of  produc- 
tion" why  assume  that  the  nation  can  ?  Unless  the  most 
rigid  limits  are  put  on  population  as  to  numbers,  and  on 
production  as  to  variety;  unless  the  nation  consumes  all 
it  produces  or  wastes  surplus,  a  self-sufficing  state  is  im- 

*J.   A.   Hobson,    "Towards    International    Government,"    p.    132, 
London,  1915. 

*Op.  oit.  ante,  pp.  107,  206-207. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  243 

possible.  If  the  lands  available  to  every  group  were  un- 
limited, all  surplus  labour  could  be  devoted  to  increasing 
the  food  supply,  other  production  being  limited  to  require- 
ments. But  the  lands  of  every  nation,  organized  as  a 
state,  are  sharply  marked  out  and  the  total  lands  available 
to  the  human  race  are  the  lands  of  the  world.  Hence, 
logically,  the  highest  good  will  result  from  the  develop- 
ment and  population  of  all  lands  up  to  the  limit  in  num- 
bers where  a  comfortable  subsistence  will  be  available  for 
every  inhabitant  of  the  globe. 

Several  barriers  are  interposed  to  this  solution  of  the 
problem  of  using  all  the  lands  of  the  earth  to  the  best 
advantage  of  mankind.  The  first  is  the  fear  of  each  in- 
dustrial nation  that  some  other  nation  will  secure  a  differ- 
ential advantage  in  any  undeveloped  region  that  is  in  ques- 
tion. The  second  is  the  desire  of  each  group  to  secure  for 
itself  that  differential  advantage,  particularly  the  invest- 
ment opportunity  for  the  capital  of  the  home  nation  ex- 
clusively. The  third  is  the  unwillingness  of  labour  to 
have  the  products  of  all  countries  meet  in  free  competi- 
tion ;  an  unwillingness  based  chiefly  on  the  conviction  that 
the  standard  of  living  in  backward  countries  is  much 
lower  than  in  the  industrial  nations. 

The  third  difficulty  is,  perhaps,  the  most  fundamental, 
the  first  two  being  merely  particular  expressions  of  the 
same  point  of  view  that  gives  rise'  to  the  last.  It  is  of 
interest,  accordingly,  to  note  that  the  wage-earning  class, 
or  better,  perhaps,  those  who  presume  to  think  and  act  in 
the  interests  of  this  class,  usually  fail  altogether  to  take 
into  consideration  one  factor  of  importance  that  is  in- 
volved when  free  competition  with  groups  having  a  lower 


244  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

standard  of  living  prevails ;  namely,  that  the  cheap  labour 
of  the  region  having  the  lower  standard  is  relatively  in- 
efficient labour.  Hence  the  superior  group  ought  to  feel 
itself  able  to  meet  the  competition  of  the  less  skilled 
workers  of  other  regions  on  terms  of  near  parity,  at  least, 
because  of  this  difference  in  efficiency.  Capitalistic  enter- 
prise in  the  more  backward  countries  does,  however,  en- 
deavour to  overcome  this  handicap  by  enforcing  longer 
hours  of  work.  Hence  the  need  for  securing  equivalence 
of  labour  conditions  everywhere. 

The  hostile  relations  that  still  exist  between  nation  and 
nation  in  regard  to  trade  and  industry  were  formerly 
operative  in  quarters  where  amity  has  so  long  replaced 
enmity  that  the  earlier  condition  is  now  all  but  forgotten. 
In  a  well  reasoned  and  enlightening  article,1  S.  J.  Graham, 
Assistant  United  States  Attorney-General,  points  out  that 
after  the  American  Revolution,  the  states,  under  the  Ar- 
ticles of  Confederation,  "began  to  pass  discriminatory 
tariffs  against  each  other."  "The  people  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Connecticut  were  actually  at  war,  plundering  and  kill- 
ing each  other  in  the  Wyoming  Valley."  "There  was  a 
jealous  spirit  among  them,  striving  each  for  its  own  ad- 
vantage and  watchful  of  a  chance  to  do  injury  to  some 
other  state."  "Confusion  and  discord  and  international 
anarchy  were  everywhere  present  due  to  each  state  having 
adopted  again  a  policy  of  individual  nationalism."  It 
was  not  an  easy  matter  to  secure  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  and  so  to  form  a  true  League 
of  Nations  composed  of  these  territorial  groups,  which, 

1  "League  of  Nations  to  Avert  International  Anarchy,"  New  York 
Times,  sec.  4,  p.  i,  Jan.  12,  1919. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  245 

though  they  had  the  human  attribute  of  being  conscious 
of  kind,  were  jet  keenly  aware  of  their  diversified  regional 
situations.  Hence  the  greater  difficulty  of  bringing  about 
a  recognition  of  their  common  dependence  between  groups 
living  in  even  more  widely  different  environments,  in 
non-contiguous  territories,  and  the  failing  to  understand 
each  other. 

Some  amelioration  of  international  friction  may  be 
hoped  for  from  association  in  a  League  of  Nations.  But, 
aside  from  that,  David  Lubin  indicated  *  shortly  before 
his  death  the  immediate,  practical,  and  profitable  way 
in  which  the  nations  might  be  taught  to  understand  that 
the  advancement  of  all  would  be  a  net  benefit  for  each. 
Lubin  proposed  that  the  already  advanced  industrial  na- 
tions, or  rather  the  financial  and  trading  groups  in  those 
nations,  should  foster  the  upbuilding  of  modern  machine 
manufacture  in  all  the  backward  countries  where  machine 
industry  would  be  an  economic  advantage;  that  is,  where 
it  would  result  in  increased  production  by  replacing  hand- 
worker industry.  He  further  suggested  local  ownership 
and  direction  of  these  new  industries,  in  order  that  local 
prejudice  to  the  change  should  be  minimized.  The  initia- 
tive, only,  would  need  to  be  supplied  from  the  outside. 
While  he  does  not  say  so  explicitly,  Lubin  also  intimates 
that  each  attempt  of  a  new  establishment  should  be  made 
only  after  due  consideration  of  the  factors,  (a)  of  the  nat- 
ural adaptation  of  the  region  to  supply  the  home  and  the 
world  market  with  a  particular  commodity,  and,  (&)  of 
the  capability  of  the  natives  to  perform  the  necessary  work 

1  "How  to  Expand  Foreign  Trade,"  New  York  Times,  p.  7,  Jan.  5, 
1919.     Also  article  in  Atlantic  Monthly,  Dec.,  1918. 


246  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

efficiently.  Concisely,  the  idea  is  simply  that  the  resources 
of  the  whole  world  should  be  developed  by  the  resident 
population  of  each  region  in  the  interest  of  the  most  eco- 
nomic production  everywhere  on  the  earth,  so  that  all 
peoples  shall  eventually  draw  their  supplies  of  each  com- 
modity from  those  areas  having  the  lowest  production  cost 
in  human  effort  (with  equivalence  of  wages)  for  that  thing. 
Of  course  the  policy  outlined  by  Lubin  goes  against 
the  prevailing  conception  of  the  nature  of  lucrative  foreign 
trade.  But  the  curious  fact  is,  that  if  the  trading  groups 
among  the  advanced  nations  were  to  base  their  selling 
programme  on  Lubin's  idea,  they  would  create,  almost 
immediately,  a  larger  demand  for  their  goods  than  now 
exists,  and  get  correspondingly  greater  profits.  The  lower 
production  costs  resulting  from  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chine industry  in  the  backward  countries,  coupled  with 
higher  wages  that  could  then  also  be  paid  the  workers  in 
the  factory  industries,  would  give  rise  to  an  augmented 
demand  and  consumption  of  goods  in  those  regions.  One 
successful  establishment  would  therefore  encourage  the 
starting  of  others  of  the  same  sort,  and,  indeed,  make  this 
possible  by  creating  the  demand  for  the  commodity  it  pro- 
duced. There  would  also  be  initiated  a  constantly  expand- 
ing demand  for  specialized  machinery,  semi-manufactured 
articles,  for  the  so-called  "findings"  in  industry,  and  for 
various  unique  kinds  of  raw  material,  of  which  there 
is  a  surplus  as  often  available  in  an  industrially  advanced 
nation  as  in  backward  regions.  If,  then,  a  market  could 
be  created  for  only  so  many  items  by  making  it  possible 
for  the  backward  nations  to  use  them,  because  they  could 
afford  the  finished  goods  due  to  the  lower  cost  resulting 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  247 

from  their  using  their  own  human  energies  in  elaborating 
basic  stuffs ;  the  general  prosperity  of  all  concerned  would 
be  promoted.  The  surplus  labour  released  by  discon- 
tinuance of  hand  manufacture,  or,  indeed,  of  primitive 
land  cultivation,  could  be  devoted  to  building  up  a  more 
intensive  or  specialized  agriculture  in  the  backward 
regions,  thus  increasing  the  quantity  and  variety  of  the 
food  supply.  Or  it  could  be  used  in  road-building  with  a 
resulting  increased  demand  for  automobiles.  This  last 
would  apply  particularly  to  South  American  countries. 
Again  it  should  be  remembered  that  certain  classes  of  com- 
modities do  not  enter  into  export  trade  even  with  modern 
facility  of  transportation  because  of  their  bulk  or  their 
weight  or  because  of  a  particular  characteristic  that  makes 
them  serviceable  only  in  the  region  of  production.  House- 
hold and  house-building  materials  in  general  are  more 
or  less  completely  debarred  from  foreign  commerce  for  all 
three  of  these  reasons.1  But  the  setting  up  of  a  machine 
industry  that  would  make  household  furniture  of  the 
home  type  available  in  greater  quantity  to  the  home  con- 
sumer would  bring  in  its  train  a  whole  row  of  opportuni- 
ties for  the  sale  of  equipment  and  materials  to  this  manu- 
facturing industry  by  traders  of  other  nationalities. 

Only  a  cursory  study  of  the  statistics2  of  American 
trade  with  South  American  and  Asiatic  countries  is  needed 

aIn  a  recently  published  popular  novel,  this  fact  is  strikingly 
brought  out  by  the  insistence  of  the  native  hero  that  the  titled 
English  visitor  must  see  the  "sash  and  blind"  factory.  Those  who 
are  familiar  with  American,  Middle  West,  small-town  industry  will 
appreciate  both  the  point  and  the  humour  of  this. 

aL.  Hutchinson,  "The  Panama  Canal  and  International  Trade 
Competition,"  Chaps.  VI,  VII,  VIII,  New  York,  1915. 


248  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

to  bring  conviction  that  the  great  handicap  to  a  larger, 
and  mutually  more  profitable  exchange,  is  the  lack  of 
commodities  suitable  for  export  to  the  United  States  from 
these  two  continents.  The  South  Americans  may  buy, 
temporarily,  by  borrowing  up  to  their  credit  limit,  but 
in  the  end  they  must  pay  in  goods  or  services.  Hence, 
as  suggested  on  another  page,  a  most  worth-while  service 
that  an  American  consular,  commercial  agent  can  render 
his  home  country  will  be  to  seek  out  diligently  everywhere, 
every  and  any  kind  of  good  "buy"  the  country  in  which  he 
is  located  affords,  and  to  advise  American  traders  and 
manufacturers  of  these  opportunities.  In  the  past  Ameri- 
can consular  agents  have  devoted  their  energies  almost  ex- 
clusively to  ferreting  out  opportunities  to  sell,  under  the 
delusion  that  through  their  efforts  American  exporters 
would  be  enabled  so  to  outdistance  competitors  from  other 
nations  in  selling  that  for  the  alien  nationals  there  would 
remain  only  the  melancholy  task  of  buying  the  native 
commodities,  not  of  selling  to  the  natives.  In  this 
scramble  for  foreign  trade  it  seems  to  be  altogether 
forgotten  that,  in  the  end,  the  seller,  if  he  will  not  buy 
from  his  consumer  customer,  must  some  time  buy  from  his 
competitors.  Otherwise  the  seller  will  get  only  gold  and 
not  either  goods  or  services.  Certainly  a  particular  trader 
who  sells,  only,  will  be  advantaged  by  the  money  profit  he 
derives  from  his  business,  because  he  can  use  his  gold  to 
command  the  goods  or  services  of  his  own  countrymen ;  but 
why  the  trader's  home  nation,  as  a  whole,  should  gain  any 
satisfaction  from  this  fact  is  difficult  to  perceive. 

The  most  effective  and  economical  location  of  produc- 
tion, utilizing  to  best  advantage  all  the  resources  and  all 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  249 

the  human  energies  of  the  world,  can  not,  however,  be 
attained  as  long  as  distribution  remains  so  unequal  as  at 
present.  While  accumulation  of  capital  is  essential  to 
the  continuance  and  expansion  of  enterprise,  its  dispro- 
portionate concentration  in  the  hands  of  a  few  makes  for 
underconsumption,  with  apparent  overproduction,  and  the 
application  of  an  ever-increasing  proportion  of  human 
energies  to  tasks  that  only  serve  for  the  creation  of  luxuries 
and  equipment  for  ostentation,  to  be  enjoyed  by  a 
privileged  few.  And  part  of  the  system  which  makes 
this  concentration  of  wealth  and  purchasing  power  possible 
is  the  expensive  institution  of  the  middleman. 

Various  agencies  are  already  functioning  to  bring  about 
a  reduction  of  all  extraordinary  concentrations  of  capital. 
Steeply  graded  income  and  inheritance  taxes,  and  the 
lower  rate  of  return  on  capital,  due  to  increased  demands 
of  labour,  are  particularly  effective  factors  in  preventing 
inordinate  increase  of  capital  accumulation.  But  the 
chief  defect  of  the  system  of  distribution  of  the  products 
of  labour,  as  at  present  developed,  is  not  affected  by 
these  governmental  policies  and  industrial  adjustments. 
It  is  necessary  that  the  activities  of  the  parasitic  middle- 
man be  replaced  by  a  less  costly  method  of  transferring 
commodities  from  the  producer  to  the  ultimate  consumer. 

If  the  young  man  of  today  (and  of  several  generations 
back)  can  by  thrift  (abstaining  from  consumption)  accu- 
mulate enough  capital  to  "go  into  business"  (and  by 
business  is  here  meant  trading  or  commercial  activity  as 
distinguished  from  industrial  processing)  his  enterprise 
is  considered  entirely  laudable  and  commendable  by  the 
community.     The  thrift  which  makes  this  independent 


250  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

career  possible  is  not  to  be  condemned;  rather,  in  so  far  as 
it  indicates  abstention  from  frivolous  spending  and  serves 
for  the  accumulation  of  capital  for  the  enlargement  of 
equipment  for  production,  it  is  praiseworthy.  But  if  he 
enters  upon  a  mercantile  career  the  young  capitalist 
presumably  will  add  one  more  family  to  the  ranks  of  that 
class  which  depends  for  its  livelihood  primarily  on  its 
ability  to  interpose  itself  between  various  kinds  of  pro- 
ducers. It  is  true  that  traders,  both  wholesale  and  retail, 
perform  a  needed  service,  in  that  they  maintain  stocks 
of  goods  from  which  the  consumer  can  conveniently  draw. 
The  trader's  investment  of  capital  is  as  much  deserving  of 
a  fair  return  as  any.  The  manner  in  which  the  trader 
functions  and  the  multiplication  of  his  numbers  are,  how- 
ever, in  a  different  category.  The  very  fact  that  retail 
shop-keepers  and  their  clerks  are,  in  most  existing  enter- 
prises of  that  kind,  idle  for  half  of  the  business  day  indi- 
cates a  social  waste.  Except  as  expansion  of  population 
and  production  create  opportunities,  each  addition  to  the 
ranks  of  the  retail  merchant  must  mean  a  further  division 
of  the  total  volume  of  business,  hence  an  increased  cost 
to  the  community  in  maintaining  the  functionaries.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  it  is  quite  probable  that,  except  as  popula- 
tion and  production  increase  and  provide  new  openings, 
the  total  number  of  traders  does  not  increase.  Those  who 
make  a  start  where  there  is  no  new  opportunity  either 
themselves  fail  or  force  an  earlier  established  competitor 
to  quit.  This  very  fact  suggests  that  those  who  can  con- 
tinue must  charge  a  sufficiently  high  percentage  above 
costs  to  insure  themselves  a  livelihood.  If  the  individual 
trader's  shrewdness  and  foresight,  his  "business  ability," 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  251 

is  markedly  superior  to  that  of  his  competitors  he  may 
get  more  than  his  share  of  the  total  volume  of  business  and 
reap  a  handsome  return.  But  the  fact  remains  that  the 
multiplication  of  these  services  is  already  too  great,  their 
social  cost  too  high,  and  those  who  try  and  fail  in  business 
make  necessary  a  large  minimum  charge  for  "overhead" 
by  those  who  remain.  It  has  been  estimated  by  one * 
familiar  particularly  with  the  practices  of  the  retail  trade 
that  25  per  cent  of  the  total  consumer's  cost  could  be 
saved  if  this,  unnecessarily  duplicated,  shop-keepers'  dis- 
tribution could  be  made  efficient. 

The  retail  end  of  the  competitive  distributing  system 
is  its  worst  part,  because  in  that  it  is  so  difficult  to  deter- 
mine what  the  service  costs.  The  wholesaler  usually  has 
an  expert  knowledge  of  the  goods  he  deals  in,  he  buys  in 
large  quantities,  and  he  re-sells  to  the  retail  dealer  who 
is,  also,  in  some  degree  an  expert  as  to  the  relative  values 
of  the  offerings  different  wholesalers  make.  In  any  event 
the  wholesaler's  costs  are  fairly  well  known  to  the  organ- 
ized groups  of  retailers.  But  as  between  the  retailer  and 
the  groups  of  unorganized  consumers  the  same  relation 
does  not  obtain.  The  retailer's  chance  to  make  a  profit 
depends  largely  on  his  customer's  ignorance  of  costs.  If 
the  consumer  could  go  into  a  grocery  store  and  see  a 
sign,  "The  store  bought  these  eggs  at  40  cents  per  dozen, 
it  offers  them  for  sale  at  60  cents,"  he  would  have  some 
idea  as  to  what  he  was  paying  for  the  retailer's  services. 
Even  if  a  law  were  passed  compelling  the  display  of  such 
signs  it  would  scarcely  be  feasible  to  authenticate  the 
advertised  cost  price. 

Emerson  P.  Harris,  "Co-operation,"  p.  85,  New  York,  1918. 


252  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

This  situation  may  be  remedied,  at  least  in  part,  by  co- 
operative buying  by  consumers  generally.  While  it  is 
true  that  it  is  improbable  that  co-operation  of  this  kind 
will  revolutionize  the  present  economic  order,  consumer's 
co-operation  can  do  much  to  bring  about  a  considerable 
reduction  in  the  number  of  purely  parasitic  traders. 
Hence  it  is  not  possible  to  agree  with  Taussig  x  when 
he  writes  that,  where  co-operative  buying  is  practised 
"by  persons  of  the  well-to-do  or  middle  class,  it  has  no 
considerable  social  interest.  As  regards  the  larger  ques- 
tions of  social  reform,  there  is  little  difference  whether 
a  shop-keeper  makes  his  profits  or  a  body  of  co-operators 
save  a  bit  by  substituting  for  him  salaried  agents."  It 
would  be  as  well  to  encourage  workmen  to  smash  windows 
and  burn  houses,  to  "make  work/'  as  to  endorse  this  state- 
ment. The  body  of  co-operators  save  a  bit  because  they 
employ  fewer  salaried  agents  than  the  number  of  shop- 
keepers needed  to  do  the  same  volume  of  business  on  the 
competitive  basis,  and  they  pay  the  salaried  agents  less. 
Hence  co-operative  consumer's  buying,  by  whatever  class 
it  is  done,  has  considerable  "social  interest."  It  has  the 
further  merit  of  leaving  the  consumer-producer  free  to 
concentrate  his  faculties  on  his  more  important  function 
of  production,  instead  of  being  compelled  to  dissipate  part 
of  his  energies  in  trying  to  circumvent  the  retailer's  con- 
cealed profit  system. 

Another  device,  indicative  of  the  general  pressure  to 
reduce  inequalities  in  the  distribution  of  income,  is  the 
growing  practice  of  professional  men — doctors,  dentists, 

*F.  W.  Taussig,  "Principles  of  Economics,"  second  edition,  Vol. 
II,  p.  347,  New  York,  1915. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  253 

lawyers — to  vary  their  charges  according  to  the  client's 
ability  to  pay.  It  may  he  urged  that  this  practice  is  as 
indefensible  as  the  retailer's  schemes,  but  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  rich  client  knows  that  he  is  being 
charged  more.  In  any  event  it  is  unlikely  that  the  princi- 
ple on  which  these  discriminatory  charges  are  based  will 
find  any  wide  acceptance  in  other  business  relations,  hence 
the  practice  will  probably  not  be  a  factor  of  importance  in 
any  readjustment  of  the  distributive  scheme. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  the  fact  that  the  territorial  socie- 
ties— that  is,  nations — of  the  temperate  lands  are  organ- 
ized into  states,  and  that  the  governmental  activity  that 
this  implies  is  a  potent  factor  in  shaping  the  way  and  the 
degree  in  which  the  national  domain  shall  be  realized  by 
the  people  as  a  whole,  has  been  rather  completely  ignored. 
The  reason  for  this  omission  was  not  failure  to  perceive 
the  importance  of  governmental  relations,  but  rather  be- 
cause so  much  emphasis  has  been  put  on  this  phase  by 
students  of  the  subject  that  other  factors,  such  as  those 
enumerated,  were  receiving  too  slight  attention. 

The  success  of  Western  civilization  rests  upon  the  accep- 
tance and  extension  of  democracy.  The  difficulty  of  de- 
mocracy is  to  find  representatives  who  can,  and  will,  truly 
represent  their  constituents.  Public  opinion,  as  it  might 
be  brought  out  at  a  town  meeting,  is  not  readily  ascertain- 
able under  the  modern  conditions  of  great  populations  and 
wide  and  diversified  national  territory.  Even  if  it  were 
discoverable  it  would  not  find  a  voice  to  make  itself  ef- 
fective. As  a  result  government  is  now  too  much,  though 
perhaps  not  so  much  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  exercised 
in  the  interests  of  the  few  and  too  little  for  the  general 


254  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

good.  And  yet,  quoting  Laski,1  "In  sober  fact,  the  welfare 
of  the  state  means  nothing  if  it  does  not  mean  the  concrete 
happiness  of  its  living  members.  The  state,  we  broadly 
say,  exists  to  promote  the  good  life,  however  variously 
defined ;  and  we  give  government  the  power  to  act  for  the 
promotion  of  that  life.  No  political  democracy  can  be 
real  that  is  not  as  well  the  reflection  of  an  economic 
democracy." 

It  is  not  that  democratic  governments  are  necessarily 
conspiracies  on  the  part  of  the  office-holders  to  maintain 
the  status  quo  for  the  benefit  of  the  favoured  few.  The 
difficulty  is,  rather,  that  politicians  and  the  bureaucracy 
are  always  struggling  to  keep  themselves  in  power  and  in 
possession  of  their  positions.  Even  with  this  motive  they 
are  not  able  to  work  with  set  purposes  and  with  definite 
knowledge  of  the  ends  they  wish  to  gain,  but  only  to  grope 
and  blunder,  as  is  painfully  apparent  from  a  reading  of 
chapters  in  "The  Education  of  Henry  Adams."  2  Hence 
it  comes  about  that  individuals  and  groups,  usually  those 
having  considerable  financial  interests  at  stake  and  having 
even  an  inkling  of  what  will  serve  them  best  (though  they 
are  often  mistaken)  can  easily  enough  contrive  to  have 
their  way  in  shaping  legislation.  Again,  whether  the 
interests  that  exert  influence  are  individual  or  corporate, 
those  persons  who  head  them  are  in  turn  seeking  primarily 
power  and  leadership.  The  limits  of  personal  indulgence, 
made  possible  by  great  wealth,  are  soon  reached;  after 
that  striving  for  domination  in  one  direction  or  another, 

aH.  J.  Laski,  "Authority  in  the  Modern  State,"  pp.  28,  34,  38, 
New  Haven,  1919. 

'"An  Autobiography,"  Chaps.  Vni-XI,  Boston,  1918. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZOXES  255 

with  wealth  for  a  lever,  remains  the  only  outlet  for  the 
energies  of  many  able  individuals.  These  leaders  are 
severally  in  competition  with  other  captains  of  industry, 
commerce,  finance;  what  happens  to  the  "concrete  happi- 
ness" of  the  general  average  of  the  population,  if  not  a 
matter  of  indifference,  is  at  least  not  a  matter  of  first 
concern  to  the  protagonists.  Yet  perhaps  the  worst  that 
can  be  said  of  the  intent  of  the  chief  contestants,  with  re- 
gard to  the  public  as  such,  is  that  the  leaders  are  tacitly 
agreed  that  the  public  must  not  be  allowed  to  meddle  in  the 
game.  And  the  class  of  average  citizens,  understanding 
even  less  than  the  few  leaders  what  is  going  on,  because  it 
knows  less,  is  accordingly  very  effectively  ruled  out  of  any 
large  part  in  government. 

The  evident  remedy  for  this  situation  is  publicity.  As 
concealment  of  the  percentage  of  profit  is  the  bad  feature 
of  retail  distribution,  and  as  secret  diplomacy  has  been, 
at  bottom,  the  occasion  for  most  of  the  evil  in  international 
relations,  secrecy  in  government,  also,  has  worked  to 
hinder  the  promotion  of  the  general  welfare  of  the  home 
nation. 

A  radical  reduction  in  armaments  will  be  a  first  step 
on  the  governmental  side  toward  international  goodwill. 
If  the  armament  trade  is  not  the  black  ogre  that  some 
writers  paint  it,  it  is  at  least  quite  certain  that  its  secret 
relations  with  governments  have  not  been  such  as  would 
tend  to  promote  peace.  If,  therefore,  all  the  discussions, 
all  the  facts  and  figures,  concerning  contracts  and  under- 
standings between  the  representatives  of  this  trade  and 
government  officials  were  to  be  published  during  the  prog- 
ress of  the  negotiations,  if  the  sittings  of  committees  and 


256  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

cabinets  were  held  with  reporters  present,  it  is  quite 
likely  that  much  would  not  be  attempted  that  in  the  past 
has  been  quite  the  current  thing.  William  Allen  White  1 
is  of  the  opinion  that  President  Wilson's  great  mistake  at 
the  Peace  Conference  "was  in  not  demanding  absolute 
publicity  for  all  meetings.  Therein  lay  safety  for  the 
thing  he  desired.  It  could  stand  the  light.  And  the 
things  the  others  desired,  if  they  were  wrong,  could  not 
stand  the  light." 

The  principle  is  the  same,  whether  it  is  applied  with 
reference  to  the  town  council,  the  national  cabinet,  or  the 
international  peace  conference;  publicity  means  that  only 
those  things  that  can  stand  the  light  will  ever  be  born.  It 
is  not  necessary  that  all  citizens  take  an  active  part  in 
politics,  as  some  insist.  It  should  not  even  be  necessary 
that  each  citizen  waste  part  of  his  productive  energies  in 
prying  into  things.  What  is  necessary  is  that  all  citizens 
be  apprised  of  everything  that  is  going  on.  That  alone 
would  probably  insure  that  the  government,  as  made  up 
of  officials  desiring  to  retain  place  and  power,  would  func- 
tion to  promote  the  good  life  of  all  citizens  and  not  only 
for  the  benefit  of  the  few  who  participate  in  "deals." 

Not  the  least  important  of  practical  measures  that 
would  help  toward  securing  governmental  organizations 
more  responsive  to  the  interests  of  the  general  public 
would  be  a  reform  of  the  news  press.  As  things  are  now, 
each  newspaper  is  simply  the  medium  of  a  particular  kind 
of  propaganda.  This  propaganda  may  be  for  national 
good  or  evil,  or  of  little  significance;  but  the  wrong  thing 

1  "The  Peace  and  President  Wilson,"  Saturday  Evening  Post,  p. 
58,  col.  1,  Philadelphia,  Aug.   16,  1919. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  257 

is  that  the  whole  of  practically  every  news  sheet  is  propa- 
ganda. To  suit  the  purpose  some  news  is  omitted,  some 
not  even  sought;  what  is  printed  is  so  captioned  and  so 
phrased  as  to  contribute  to  the  policy  in  hand.  There  is  a 
law  to  the  effect  that  reading  notices  and  all  other  disguised 
advertising  must  be  labelled  so  that  the  reader  can  distin- 
guish it  from  news  items.  It  would  be  well  to  have  a  simi- 
lar law  to  compel  newspapers  to  print  their  news  stories 
divided  into  parts  of  which  the  first  would  be  facts,  the 
second  descriptions,  the  third  inferences  and  deductions, 
and  the  fourth  propaganda.  A  newspaper  thus  made  up 
could  afford  its  readers  the  opportunity  to  reject  the  inter- 
pretation offered  as  part  of  the  stories;  and  the  political 
reaction  due  to  an  accurately  informed  public  opinion 
would  be  tremendous. 

A  variety  of  other  reforms  may  be  of  service  in  bringing 
about  a  more  complete  co-ordination  of  the  many  elements 
that  go  to  make  up  the  social  structure  of  the  industrially 
organized  nations  of  the  Temperate  Zones.  The  changes 
suggested  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  are  perhaps  of 
greater  basic  importance,  or  have  a  broader  geographic 
significance  than  others;  in  any  case  they  indicate  suffi- 
ciently the  point  of  view  herein  contended  for.  To  enu- 
merate and  elucidate  further  would  have  the  effect  of 
putting  too  remotely  in  the  background  what  it  is  intended 
should  be  the  chief  argument  of  this  chapter;  namely, 
that  if  mankind  is  to  realize  in  full  its  heritage  of  the 
earth,  then  the  Temperate  Zones  must  be  made  to  produce 
to  their  maximum  capacity,  and  that  this  end  can  only  be 
attained  when  it  is  recognized  that  the  geographic  factor 
is  of  fundamental  importance.     Other  factors  may  have 


258  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

great  significance,  but  the  consideration  given  them  should 
be  secondary  to  that  accorded  geographic  relations.  In 
other  words,  each  region  of  the  Temperate  Zones  should 
be  utilized  to  best  advantage  with  reference  to  the  par- 
ticular resources  it  affords,  first  to  supply  the  needs  of  the 
local  population,  second  those  of  the  nation,  and  third  to 
meet  the  demands  of  world  commerce.  That  is  to  say, 
in  every  area  certain  commodities  can  be  produced  at  the 
minimum  expenditure  of  human  energy  for  local  consump- 
tion, a  lesser  number,  presumably,  for  the  national  market, 
and  one  or  several  things  for  the  world  market ;  and  the  in- 
habitants of  each  district  ought  to  devote  their  energies 
to  pursuits  at  least  not  incompatible  with  the  geographic 
adaptations  of  the  place. 

This  is  far  from  being  true  now.  But  whether  the 
change  from  the,  geographically  irrational,  utilization  pre- 
vailing at  present  would  result  in  one  or  the  other  of  the 
national  groups  becoming  the  chief,  and  perhaps  the  sole, 
production  and  export  centre  of  a  given  commodity,  at 
present  uneconomically  obtained  from  a  variety  of  sources, 
should  not  matter.  For  the  import  of  one  kind  of  goods 
from  the  site  best  fitted  to  its  production  will  be  compen- 
sated for  by  export  of  other  materials  secured  with  similar 
efficiency  in  the  home  country.  Despite  the  tariff  barriers 
which  they  have  set  up  against  each  other,  the  nations 
most  advanced  in  industrial  status  have,  in  the  modern 
period  of  world  trade,  always  found  their  strongest  com- 
petitors to  be  also  their  best  customers.  Hence  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  gradual  removal  of  all  customs'  re- 
strictions would  produce  any  notable  change  in  the  estab- 
lished currents  of  world  commerce.     It  would  quicken 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  259 

their  flow  and  focus  them  on  the  exchanges  that  are  mutu- 
ally most  advantageous.  Again,  it  is  unlikely  that  there 
would  be  any  less  diversification  of  industry  in  the  several 
countries  because  of  free  interchange,  for  the  local  supply 
must  always  be  at  an  advantage  over  that  coming  from  a 
distance,  and  the  home  market  is  the  easy,  immediately 
accessible  one.  But  if  one  region  has  a  preponderant  geo- 
graphic advantage  for  the  production  of  a  given  commodity 
it  certainly  is  folly  for  society  generally  to  refuse  to 
participate  in  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  the  natural 
adaptation. 

All  this,  however,  presupposes  a  substantial  equivalence 
in  labour  costs  in  the  different  nations.  Whether  this 
equivalence  is  secured  as  it  is,  indeed,  very  nearly  now, 
by  the  superior  skill  and  greater  efficiency  of  artisans  in 
the  advanced  nations  offsetting  the  lower  wage  of  less  com- 
petent workers  in  the  backward  regions,  or,  if  and  when 
these  less  competent  workers  are  educated  to  greater  effi- 
ciency by  the  fixing  of  wage  standards  through  interna- 
tional organization  of  labour;  or  if  equivalence  is  got  by 
governmental  measures,  everywhere  effective,  to  prevent 
the  exploitation  of  labour;  many  benefits  will  follow  in 
the  train  of  its  accomplishment.  The  chief  dread  of 
foreign  competition  will  be  removed.  The  higher  stand- 
ard of  living  due  to  higher  wages  will  engender  every- 
where an  enormously  increased  demand  for  goods  and  ma- 
chinery, leading  to  development  and  intensification  of  in- 
dustries in  all  countries.  The  chief  incentive  for  export  of 
capital  will  disappear,  and  this  will  encourage  the  employ- 
ment of  additional  funds  at  home,  at  a  lower  rate  of 
return,  and  thus  tend  to  level  up  inequalities  of  distribu- 


260  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tion.  Foreign  investment,  to  finance  the  pioneering  neces- 
sary in  new  countries,  can  nevertheless  be  managed  by 
inter-governmental  credit  advances,  as  between  the  Allies 
during  the  World  War.1 

Accompanying  progress  toward  the  complete  utiliza- 
tion of  the  resources  of  the  temperate  lands,  and  the  equal- 
ization of  the  human  conditions  of  production,  there  will 
also  necessarily  be  a  general  rise  in  the  standard  of  intelli- 
gence of  the  temperate-land  populations  concerned.  With 
education  and  better  living  conditions,  increase  in  numbers 
beyond  the  available  provision,  at  the  time,  for  adequate 
subsistence  will  be  checked.  Stationary  populations  and 
the  prevention  of  immigration  into  those  countries  where 
food  consumption  approaches  food  production  will  insure 
the  retention  of  favourable  conditions,  and  mark  the  attain- 
able goal  in  general  comfort  both  for  the  under-populated 
new  countries  and  the  over-populated  old  ones.  New  food 
resources,  and  the  possibility  of  devoting  an  increasing 
proportion  of  human  effort  to  intensification  of  agriculture, 
through  release  of  workers  from  other  tasks,  by  applica- 
tion of  new  inventions  and  mechanical  energy,  will  un- 
doubtedly permit  further  expansion  in  numbers  or  per- 
haps relieve  the  pressure  where  numbers  are  now  too  great. 
But  the  successful  inheritance  of  the  temperate  lands  must 
always  be  based  on  the  standard  of  adequate  subsistence 
for  everyone,  and  equitable  apportionment  of  so  much  of 

*The  "Bank  of  Nations"  that  Senator  Gilbert  M.  Hitchcock  pro- 
poses to  establish  (Senate  bill  No.  2187,  introduced  June  29,  1921) 
would  function  precisely  in  the  way  here  suggested,  and  would 
serve  to  eliminate  the  evils  that  result  now  from  the  private  export 
of  capital. 


THE  TEMPERATE  ZONES  261 

the  greater  share  of  production  as  superior  native  endow- 
ment, application,  and  ability  to  learn  and  save,  entitles 
the  individual  to  possess.  The  extra  reward  will  then  be 
measured  almost  solely  by  comparative  values  of  different 
services  to  society  as  a  whole.  No  Utopia  will  have  been 
achieved  when  these  conditions  are  realized,  but  there  will 
be  a  much  closer  approach  to  amity  between  classes  within 
the  nations,  and  many  of  the  bases  of  international  discord 
should  also  disappear. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

INHERITING  THE  EARTH THE   CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS 

Part  I — The  Complementary  Status,  the  Environment, 
and  the  Resources  of  the  Tropics 

Populations  are  expanding  rapidly  in  all  those  parts 
of  the  world  that  Western  civilization  has  invaded  and 
particularly  where  its  industrial  mark,  the  processing  of 
raw  materials  by  machine,  is  evident.  The  statistics  from 
Japan,  for  example,  show  this  very  clearly.  In  the  period 
of  forty-three  years  (1871-1914)  immediately  following 
the  opening  of  the  land  of  the  Mikado  to  European  in- 
fluences, the  population  of  Japan  increased  three  times  as 
fast  as  it  had  in  the  period  of  forty-three  years  preceding 
1871.  Numerically  the  growth  was  from  33,000,000  in 
1871  to  54,000,000  in  19 14.1  The  census  returns  from 
India,  Java,  the  Philippine  Islands,  Egypt;  from  all  the 
colonial  settlements  of  Europeans,  indicate  similarly  rapid 
increases  in  numbers ;  in  fact  only  from  China,  central 
Africa,  and  France  is  there  evidence  of  stationary  or  de- 
creasing populations.  Despite  war  losses  of  500,000  men 
it  is  reported  that  Italy's  population  in  1920  was  larger 
than  it  was  in  1914.  This  is  due  to  the  high  birth-rate 
in  Italy,  and  the   increases  are  largely  concentrated  in 

1 W.  F.  Willcox,  op.  oit.  ante,  p.  750. 

262 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TKOPICS      263 

the  cities.1  Two  centuries  ago  the  total  population  of  the 
earth  was  about  one  billion  people,  now  it  is  nearly  one 
and  two  thirds  billions. 

Will  it  be  possible  to  continue  the  expansion  of  the 
world's  food  supply  in  proportion  to  the  ever-increasing 
numbers  of  which  these  figures  give  prospect  ?  In  addition, 
will  it  be  possible  to  maintain  the  standard  of  living  that 
now  exists  and,  indeed,  to  raise  it  ? — as  has  been  done  dur- 
ing the  last  fifty  years.  The  answer  to  these  questions  is 
not  necessarily  the  optimistic  "yes"  returned  by  Smith  2 
in  a  recently  published  book.  Though  Smith  hedges  his 
predictions  with  many  conditions,  his  pages  nevertheless 
foster  the  expectation  of  a  veritable  avalanche  of  food  in 
the  decades  to  come.  While  it  may  be  true  that  there  will 
be  an  adequate  provision  for  many  more  people  than  now 
inhabit  the  earth,  there  should  also  be  a  full  appreciation 
how  this  increased  production  must  be  circumstanced,  lest 
an  unreckoning  faith  imperil  progress. 

Even  Smith  recognizes  that  the  possibilities  of  extend- 
ing food  supplies  as  referred  to  at  least  one  commodity, 
meat,  are  slight.  Domesticated  animals  provide  man  with 
a  machine  for  elaborating  green  vegetation  (which  man 
can  not  assimilate  in  quantity)  into  meat,  and  dairy  and 
poultry  products,  that  are  highly  nutritious.  But  the 
edible  yield  that  results  from  use  of  the  animal  machine 
is  slight  in  comparison  to  the  acreage  required  to  stoke 
the  organic  engine  with  raw,  vegetable  fuel.  To  produce 
an  amount  of  pork  that  is  equivalent  in  food  value  to  the 

1  Quoted  by  New  York   Times,   Feb.   8,  1920,   sec.   1,  p.   8,  from 
bulletin  issued  by  Italian  Discount  and  Trust  Co.,  New  York  City. 
»J.  R.  Smith,  "The  World's  Food  Supply.."  New  York,  1919. 


264  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

grain  needed  to  feed  the  pigs,  four  times  as  much  land  is 
required ;  in  the  case  of  grain-fed  beef  and  mutton  the 
ratio  is  as  fifteen  or  twenty-five  is  to  one,  and  if  meat  is 
to  be  produced  by  grass  pasturage  even  vaster  expanses 
must  be  available  to  get  a  pound  of  flesh.  While  the  dairy 
and  poultry  industries  do  afford  higher  returns  and  are, 
therefore,  an  ultimate  stage  in  the  utilization  of  animals 
as  elaborators  of  food,  it  is,  nevertheless,  evident  that  the 
total  land  area  of  the  world,  even  if  all  unutilized  acres 
were  available  for  pasturage,  is  much  too  limited  in  extent 
to  permit  of  any  great  increase  in  the  production  of  meat. 

Indeed,  the  greater  part,  of  the  best  lands  must  already 
be  devoted  to  intensified  agriculture  in  order  that  the  exist- 
ing human  population  may  be  supported.  Because  some 
lands  can  not  be  cropped  otherwise  than  by  pasturage,  be- 
cause cattle  on  the  farm  utilize  inedible  portions  of  the 
cultivated  plants  and  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil, 
because  by  preservation  of  corn  fodder  through  ensilage 
vast  yields  of  green  stuffs  can  be  produced  for  animal 
feeding,  because  by  breeding  European  cattle  with  the 
Indian  Zebu,  a  hybrid,  immune  to  tropical  cattle  diseases, 
may  be  obtained,  because  great  reindeer  herds  *  may  at 
some  time  yield  a  return  in  meat  from  the  lichen  growth 
of  the  arctic  tundras,  and  other  similar  expedients  and 
developments,  there  will  be  increased  production  of  meat 

*Carl  J.  Loman,  "The  Camel  of  the  Frozen  North,"  National 
Geographic  Magazine,  Vol.  XXXVI,  No.  6,  p.  539,  Dec.,  1919.  In 
the  Daily  Consular  and  Trade  Reports,  United  States  Department  of 
Commerce,  p.  1247,  March  3,  1920,  the  formation  of  a  reindeer  com- 
pany with  a  capital  of  $750,000  is  reported.  It  has  obtained  a 
concession  of  over  75,000  square  miles  of  land  north  of  the  Churchill 
River  from  the  Canadian  Government  and  proposes  to  raise  reindeer 
and  caribou,  and  market  the  flesh  of  those  animals. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      265 

and  animal  products ;  but  the  process  at  best  is  too  demand- 
ing of  actual  acreage  to  permit  of  any  expectation  that  it 
can  keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  population.  Even  though 
they  do  elaborate  inedible  materials,  animals  are  too  ex- 
travagant in  their  use  of  land.  Accordingly,  man  must  in 
the  future  expect  to  rely,  much  more  exclusively  than  he 
has  in  the  past,  on  the  direct  production  of  the  vegetable 
world  to  supply  him  with  food.  Incidentally,  however, 
it  should  be  remembered  that  the  surface  of  the  sea  is  a 
vast  pasture,  the  bulk  of  green  plants  growing  in  its  upper 
waters  much  exceeding  that  of  a  field  of  lush  grass  and 
that,  as  yet,  man  has  been  very  little  able  to  utilize  these 
ocean  meadows.  But  as  it  has  been  established  that  salmon 
return  to  their  native  streams  to  spawn,  it  will  be  profitable 
for  owners  of  canneries  on  each  stream  to  maintain  pri- 
vate hatcheries,  sending  out  each  year  a  myriad  of  young 
fry  to  feed  on  the  ocean  ranges,  which  will  later  return 
as  full-sized  fish  for  the  catch.  While  this  is  an  intriguing 
possibility,  it  will,  of  course,  be  understood  that  it  can 
scarcely  be  depended  on  to  augment  greatly,  in  the  near 
future,  the  world's  supply  of  meat  food. 

Nevertheless,  there  remain  wide  areas  of  sparsely  peo- 
pled lands  in  the  Temperate  Zones  suitable  for  the  produc- 
tion of  various  kinds  of  human  food.  But  the  utilization 
of  these  lands,  for  agriculture,  is  beset  with  difficulties 
that  are  not  always  given  adequate  consideration.  In  the 
first  place  the  thinly  populated  lands  in  the  Temperate 
Zones  are  remote  from  the  present  centres  of  food-consump- 
tion, hence  their  yield  must  be  transported  farther  than 
competing  products  from  nearer  sources  to  enter  the  mar- 
ket.   The  price  (using  this  as  a  measure  of  the  human  sac- 


266  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

rifice  involved)  of  a  bushel  of  grain,  must,  accordingly, 
be  higher  than  the  last  prevailing  rate  in  order  to  induce 
pioneers  to  attempt  the  extension  of  the  cultivated  area. 
But  a  higher  price  in  itself  indicates  a  relatively  greater 
scarcity  of  the  product,  hence,  as  referred  to  increases  in 
the  total  of  food  available  due  to  higher  price,  supply  will 
always  tend  to  lag  behind  demand.  The  reclamation  and 
utilization  of  arid  and  swamp  lands  *  is  subject  to  the 
same  limitation  in  its  relation  to  the  world's  need  of  food. 

In  fact,  the  higher  price  which  induces  the  extension  of 
the  grain  lands  into  the  cattle-raising  areas  is  really  only 
the  expression  of  a  recourse  to  the  ultimate  resort,  at  any 
time,  for  more  food.  This  becomes  clear  on  consideration 
that  even  a  slight  increase  in  price  will  result  in  agri- 
culture in  some  degree  more  intensified — by  better  culti- 
vation to  increase  yields,  and  by  substitution  of  crops 
requiring  more  labour,  but  giving  higher  returns  per  acre. 
The  marginal  lands,  in  both  the  economic  and  geographic 
sense,  are  brought  into  use  only  as  diminishing  returns 
from  expedients  of  this  kind,  and  a  further  rise  in  price, 
make  the  extension  of  agriculture  into  the  remote  and 
difficult  areas  profitable. 

The  expectation  of  greatly  augmented  food  supplies  in 
the  future  from  the  yet  unused  lands  of  the  Temperate 
Zones  is  due,  in  part,  to  a  misconception  in  regard  to  the 
reasons  why  food  became  cheap  and  plentiful  during  the 
last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  That  phenomenon 
was  brought  about,  it  is  true,  by  the  availability  during 
that  time  of  vast  areas  of  virgin  lands,  but  coupled  with 

1  C.  S.  Scofield,  "The  Geographical  Factor  in  Agricultural  Indus- 
tries," Geographical  Review,  Vol.  I,  No.  1,  pp.  48-49,  Jan.,  1916. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS     267 

that  great  opportunity  there  was  the  added  fact  of  the 
adaptability  of  those  new  regions  to  machine  cultivation. 
The  development,  in  the  same  period,  of  farm  machinery 
(including  the  roller  process  for  grinding  wheat,  and 
the  cotton  gin)  the  development,  also  during  that  time,  of 
machine  production  of  other  commodities  and,  most  im- 
portant of  all,  the  development  of  efficiency  in  bulk  trans- 
portation by  rail  and  steamboat,  are  items  of  the  greatest 
significance  in  explaining  the  cheap  food  of  the  decades 
just  passed.  Usually,  however,  it  is  only  the  virgin  lands 
that  are  remembered;  these  other  factors,  which  were 
probably  of  far  greater  import,  are  either  completely  over- 
looked or  given  slight  attention.  The  improvement  and 
adaptation  of  farm  machinery  to  wider  uses  and  new 
crops  is  not  yet  at  an  end,  and  many  more  devices  for  sav- 
ing time  and  labour  in  industry  and  transportation  are  in 
prospect  of  application.  But  so  complete  a  reordering  of 
commerce  as  was  wrought  by  the  Industrial  Revolution, 
which,  in  particular,  made  possible  the  world  exchange 
of  food  products  in  bulk,  can  not  be  effected  by  these 
further  elaborations.  Hence  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
another  era  of  cheap  food  will  result  from  their  utiliza- 
tion. The  remaining  new  lands  of  the  Temperate  Zones 
are  sources  from  which  the  world's  food  supply  may  be 
supplemented;  they  do  not  constitute,  as  did  the  virgin 
areas  exploited  during  the  past  fifty  years,  a  vast  untapped 
reservoir  on  which  centres  of  congested  population  could 
draw  freely. 

Inventions  and  discoveries,  such  as  improvement  in  the 
refrigeration  and  evaporation  of  vegetables,  will  make 
possible  the  preservation  of  much  food  that  now  goes  to 


268  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

waste.  The  farm-tractor  and  the  motor  truck,  the  centri- 
fugal milk  separator  and  the  mechanical  milker,  much  in- 
crease the  efficiency  of  man  power  on  the  farm  and  render 
some  new  lands  available.  Plant-breeding  and  tree  crops, 
new  fertilizer  supplies  and  better  and  novel  methods  in 
cultivation,  such  as  the  spraying  of  fruit  and  the  use  of 
explosives,  will  increase  yields  without  entailing  the  ex- 
penditure of  more  labour.1  Land  used  for  grain  crops 
from  which  alcoholic  liquors  were  made,  and  that  used  to 
grow  indigo,  has  become  available  for  food  crops;  better 
methods  of  distribution  will  more  and  more  reduce  the 
cost  of  handling. 

It  may  be  that  public  purchase  and  warehousing  of 
excess  production  in  one  season,  or  one  region,  will  in 
the  future  both  insure  the  grower  and  protect  the  con- 
sumer against  great  price  fluctuations.  The  significance  of 
no  one  of  these  possibilities,  or  of  other  similar  items 
that  have  not  been  enumerated,  in  the  future  agricultural 
utilization  of  the  Temperate  Zones  should  fail  to  get 
consideration.  Nevertheless  it  is  improbable  that,  collec- 
tively, they  would  avail  to  maintain  foods  at  present  costs 
if  populations  continue  to  expand  in  nearly  the  same  ratio 
as  they  have  in  the  decades  of  the  recent  past. 

It  will,  however,  be  possible  to  get  much  more  food  from 
the  Temperate  Zone  lands  by  the  expenditure  of  a  greater 
amount  of  effort  on  them;  that  is,  by  intensifying  agri- 
culture markedly.  But  culture  of  the  land  will  not  be  so 
intensified  until  higher  prices  can  be  got,  for  more  labour 

1  See,  on  this,  "The  Backwardness  of  Italian  Farming,"  by  W.  H. 
Johnson,  The  Review  (weekly),  New  York,  Vol.  I,  No.  30,  pp.  640- 
641,  Dec.  6,  1919. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TEOPICS      269 

will  be  required,  and  this  labour,  further,  will  demand 
higher  pay;  farm  life  will  need  to  be  made  much  more 
pleasant,  wholesome,  and  profitable  than  it  is  at  present, 
if  it  is  to  attract  adequate  man  power.  In  other  words, 
expansion  of  the  food  supply  from  the  present  areas  of 
production,  commensurate  with  the  probable  demands  of 
future,  greater  populations,  can  only  be  realized  by  di- 
verting to  the  tasks  of  agriculture  a  far  larger  proportion 
of  human  energy  than  it  now  commands.  Much  more  food 
can  be  had  at  much  higher  prices. 

While  plentiful  food  at  high  cost  is  not  a  solution 
of  the  problem  that  will  be  received  with  gusto  by  those 
who  hold  that  food  must  be  cheap  if  progress  is  to  be 
insured,  the  gloomings  of  this  school  at  the  prospect  will 
probably  not  contain  any  suggestion  that  the  difficulty 
may  be  overcome  by  approach  from  another  direction.  If 
labour  must  be  withdrawn  from  industry  for  use  in  agri- 
culture, then,  if  the  standard  of  living  is  to  be  maintained 
and  improved,  industry,  as  distinguished  from  cultivation 
of  the  land,  must  be  made  increasingly  efficient,  so  that 
the  supply  of  elaborated  commodities  may  continue  to  be 
available,  not  only  in  undiminished  but,  indeed,  in  much 
expanded  volume ;  that  is,  at  lower  cost.  Agricultural  pro- 
duction is  hemmed  in  by  limitations  that  do  not  apply  to 
industry.  Vast  known  and  other,  undetermined,  poten- 
tialities for  harnessing  and  directing  natural  energy  are 
open  to  exploitation.  The  future  may  see  the  development 
of  elaborating  processes  on  so  large  a  scale  and  so  econo- 
mical of  human  effort  that  a  small  fraction,  merely,  of  the 
labour  these  processes  now  entail  will  then  be  required. 
A  random  illustration  of  what  has  already  been  accom- 


270  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

plished  in  this  direction  will  serve  to  make  clear  how  effec- 
tive new  inventions  and  discoveries  may  be,  in  enlarging 
the  stream  of  goods  needed  to  supply  human  wants  and  to 
increase  creature-comforts.  So  simple  a  tool  as  the  modern 
plough  required  118  hours  of  human  labour  to  make,  when 
done  by  hand,  but  only  3  hours  and  45  minutes,  when 
wrought  with  the  aid  of  machines.1  This  is  in  the  ratio 
of  31^:1  in  time  required;  the  money-cost  ratio,  7:1, 
while  not  so  high,  is  nevertheless  sufficiently  great  to  indi- 
cate the  remarkable  relations  that  here  obtain.  Far  from 
being  a  special  instance,  this  is  only  typical  of  the  average 
change  in  production  cost,  as  governed  by  the  labour  item, 
brought  about  during  the  Industrial  Revolution.  The 
saving  of  human  energy  has,  indeed,  been  even  greater  in 
other  branches  of  industry.  The  farmer,  however,  did  not 
share  proportionately  in  the  benefits  these  improvements 
conferred,  hence  food  became  cheap ;  but  similar  develop- 
ment, of  industry  in  the  future  should  make  it  possible  to 
pay  the  farmer  more  and  get  the  mechanically  processed 
commodities  for  less. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  in  preceding  sections  that  ma- 
chine production,  the  factory  system  in  industry,  is  being 
rapidly  extended  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  that  it  will 
serve  the  best  interests  of  all  the  nations  concerned,  actively 
to  aid  this  development,  particularly  in  the  so-called  back- 
ward regions  of  the  Temperate  Zones.  The  net  outcome  of 
the  resulting  expansion  of  industry  will  be  increased  pro- 

1  "Hand  and  Machine  Labor,"  13th  Annual  Report  of  the  ( United 
States)  Commissioner  of  Labor,  Vol.  I,  p.  20.  Two  vols.,  1898, 
Washington,  D.  C.  Hundreds  of  similar  comparisons  will  be  found 
in  these  volumes. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      271 

duction,  and  a  growth  of  commerce  following  the  lines  of 
the  present  channels  of  world  exchange  of  commodities. 
But,  as  time  passes,  and  the  lesson  is  learned,  in  all  the 
Temperate  Zone  regions,  of  developing  into  consumer's 
products  all  the  raw  materials  their  varied  natural  re- 
sources afford,  and  of  the  particular  kind  that  the  genius 
of  the  human  inhabitants  there  domiciliated  makes  most 
profitable,  world  commerce  between  Temperate  Zone  areas 
must  become  more  and  more  specialized.  Its  volume  may 
not  be  less  but  its  characteristics  will  change.  Instead 
of  the  exchange  of  raw  materials  for  consumers'  goods  that 
now  prevails,  there  will  ensue  the  exchange  of  wares  char- 
acteristic of  one  country  for  the  similarly  unique  products 
_of  another. 

As  this  state  of  affairs  slowly  develops,  all  the  varied 
environmental  provisions  of  the  several  areas  of  the  Tem- 
perate Zones  will  be  utilized  with  increasing  refinement. 
Then  it  will  become  evident  that  the  only  remaining  source 
from  which  vast  bulk  of  crudes  may  be  drawn  is  the 
equatorial  belt  of  the  earth's  land ;  and  the  conquest  of  the 
tropics  will  be  begun  in  earnest.  And,  in  this  connection, 
it  should  be  remembered  that,  while  food  is  man's  chief 
need  from  the  soil,  and  food  requirements  have,  accord- 
ingly, been  considered  in  some  detail  in  these  pages,  it  is 
equally  significant  that  the  land  must  be  depended  on  to 
provide  the  world  with  most  of  its  fibres:  cotton,  wool, 
linen,  hemp,  and  pulp  for  paper;  also  rubber,  vegetable 
paint-oils  and  soap-oils ;  and  forest  and  mineral  products. 
Indeed,  the  limitations  of  industry,  like  those  of  agricul- 
ture, will  be  marked  ultimately  by  the  total  output  possible 
in  all  extractive  pursuits.    The  forest  sources  of  wood-pulp 


272  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

for  paper  are  already  failing  in  the  Temperate  Zones,  and, 
as  in  this  case,  so  also  will  other  deficiencies  compel  an  in- 
creasing resort  to  the  tropics  for  supplies.  Again,  because 
the  climate  of  the  tropics  is  less  well  adapted  to  efficient 
factory  production  than  the  temperate  lands,  the  equatorial 
regions  bid  fair  to  become,  in  future  centuries,  the  world's 
great  farm. 

World  trade,  in  consequence,  as  measured  by  bulk  and 
value  both,  in  ever  greater  proportion  should  follow  north- 
south  routes.  East-west  trade  will  grow  in  actual  quantity, 
for  diversity  of  resources  does  exist  between  lands  of  the 
Temperate  Zones  and  on  those  differences  interregional 
commerce  is  fundamentally  based.  Each  community  will 
supply  world  trade  with  certain  commodities  that  quantity, 
quality,  and  favouring  juxtaposition  of  natural  resources 
and  acquired  skill  give  particular  groups  special  advan- 
tages in  producing.  Trade  between  regions  of  the  tem- 
perate lands  will  expand  because,  as  life  activities  become 
more  varied,  the  needs  and  wants  of  erstwhile  backward 
groups  will  be  in  like  measure  enlarged.  Because,  how- 
ever, the  dominating  potence  of  the  factor  of  climatic 
difference  finds  in  the  relation  of  the  Temperate  and  Tropi- 
cal Zones  its  extremity  of  divergence,  these  are  the  essen- 
tially different  areas  of  agricultural  production,  hence 
naturally  complementary  trade  areas. 

It  is  historically  fitting  that  the  prevailing  direction  of 
movement  of  goods  overseas  should  ultimately  be  over 
north  and  south  lines.  World  exploration  was  first  motiv- 
ated by  the  desire  for  the  products  of  the  tropical  lands ; 
on  trade  between  the  tropical  lands  and  the  temperate 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      273 

lands  world  commerce  was  founded.  Hence,  though  the 
tremendous  expansion  of  world  trade  has  come  about  over 
the  east-west  route  between  the  Old  World  and  the  New, 
the  final  stage  in  world  development  and  utilization  will, 
very  appropriately,  be  marked  by  a  return  to  a  dominantly 
north-south  exchange  of  goods. 

While  this  change  in  the  main  currents  of  the  world's 
trade  is  already  in  progress,1  its  complete  realization  pre- 
sumes the  occupation  and  development  of  the  tropical  lands 
in  a  much  more  comprehensive  measure  than  has  as  yet 
been  attained.  The  tropical  lands  are,  pre-eminently,  the 
unutilized  lands  of  the  earth.  Smith  2  asserts  that  "today 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  tropic  forest  stands  virtually  as  un- 
disturbed as  in  the  day  of  our  arboreal  ancestors,"  and 
implies  that  the  same  lack  of  development  is  the  character- 
istic mark  of  all  tropical  areas.  In  a  broad  sense  this  is 
true,  but  so  stated  the  problem  is  only  indicated ;  an  in- 
formed understanding  of  what  is  involved  in  the  conquest 
of  the  tropics  must  be  based  on  an  appreciation  of  their 
actual  diversity  of  aspect,  and  the  effect  of  those  differences 
on  human  enterprise. 

First  of  all  it  should  be  emphasized  that,  climatically, 
the  single,  uniform  characteristic  of  all  tropical  lands  is 
their  steady,  unceasing,  and  unvarying  warmth.     Jeffer- 

1  In  1914  the  exports  of  tropical  agricultural  products  from  the 
chief  tropical  producing  areas  amounted  to  $1,866,000,000.  Approxi- 
mately one  third  of  the  sum  total  in  value  of  all  imports  into  the 
United  States  in  1914  was  tropical  agricultural  products.  E.  V. 
Wilcox,  "Tropical  Agriculture,"  p.  31,  New  York,  1916. 

1  J.  Russell  Smith,  "Industrial  and  Commercial  Geography,"  p. 
664,  New  York,  1913. 


274  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

son  1  makes  this  very  clear  by  means  of  a  series  of  tem- 
perature graphs  showing  the  actual  daily  and  seasonal 
variations  in  the  degree  of  heat  through  the  year,  and  in 
the  contrasted  summer  and  winter  months,  in  tropical 
stations.  In  these  diagrams  the  superimposed  lines  of  the 
temperature  curves,  for  both  the  hottest  and  coldest  months 
of  typical  tropical  stations,  everywhere  interlace.  In  other 
words,  night  is  the  winter  of  the  tropical  areas,  whether 
highland  or  lowland,  for  the  temperature  range  between 
day  and  night  is  as  great,  or  greater,  than  the  seasonal 
range.  The  variability  in  temperature  from  day  to  day  is 
only  a  matter  of  two  or  three  degrees ;  moreover,  the  term 
"torrid  zone"  is  a  misnomer,  for  this  steady  temperature 
is  warm  rather  than  hot.  Indeed,  tropical  uplands  are 
steady-cool,  rather  than  steady-warm,  and  while  their 
range  of  temperature  between  seasons  is  perhaps  ten 
degrees,  as  compared  to  one  or  two  degrees  for  near-sea- 
level  stations,  and  while  the  daily  range  in  tropical  uplands 
extends  over  twenty  to  thirty  degrees,  whereas  lowland 
places  have  only  fifteen  to  twenty  degrees  of  change  be- 
tween day  and  night,  the  variability  of  temperature,  or 
difference  between  one  day  and  the  next,  is  the  same 
for  both  kinds  of  situations,  and  is  measured  by  only 
one  or  two,  or,  at  most,  three  degrees.  The  greatest  ex- 
tremes  in  temperature  within  the  tropical  regions  are 
found  in  dry  continental  interiors,  as  for  example  interior 
Africa  and  Australia,  where  a  range  of  twenty-five  de- 

1Mark  Jefferson,  "The  Steady  Warmth  of  the  Tropics,"  Bulletin 
'American  Geographical  Society,  pp.  346-348,  Vol.  XLVII,  1915. 
Idem.,  "The  Real  Temperatures  Throughout  North  and  South  Amer- 
ica," Geographical  Review,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  240-267,  1918. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS     275 

grees  between  day  and  night  is  encountered.  Finally, 
the  average  temperature  of  tropical,  sea-level  stations, 
throughout  the  year  is  80  degrees  F. ;  at  11,100  feet  ele- 
vation it  is  48  degrees  F.  in  winter,  and  55  degrees  F. 
in  summer,  so  that  the  decrease  with  elevation  is  almost 
exactly  equivalent  to  the  standard  fall  of  temperature  of 
one  degree  for  every  three-hundred-foot  rise  in  elevation, 
and  summer  extremes  are  only  slightly  more  marked  in  the 
highest  uplands.  The  temperature  of  the  tropical  lands  is 
everywhere  steady. 

Hence,  in  respect  of  temperature,  it  is  manifest  that  the 
antithesis  of  the  tropical-land  and  temperate-land  climates 
is  that  the  former  are  almost  inconceivably  steady-warm, 
not  torrid,  while  the  temperate  lands  may  be,  and  com- 
monly are,  very  hot  at  one  season  and  very  cold  in  the 
other;  differ  greatly  in  temperature  averages  from  place 
to  place,  in  response  to  other  factors  than  that  of  elevation, 
and,  above  all,  are  marked  by  extremes  of  variation  from 
day  to  day,  from  season  to  season,  and  between  one  year 
and  the  next. 

If  consideration  went  no  further  than  this  it  might  be 
concluded  that  all  tropical  regions  are  remarkably  uniform 
in  climate.  But  a  conclusion  thus  arrived  at  would  over- 
look the  importance  of  precipitation  differences,  both  as 
to  amount  and  distribution  through  the  year,  as  a  factor 
in  climatic  variation,  and,  hence,  in  the  regional  aspect 
of  tropical  areas.  In  fact  tropical  regions  are  quite  di- 
verse in  appearance  and  in  relation  to  organic  life;  and 
this  variation  results  almost  exclusively  from  rainfall 
differences. 

The  most  recent,  thorough,  and  satisfactory  classifica- 


276  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tion  and  subdivision  of  the  world  into  climatic  regions 
is  that  by  W.  Koppen.1  The  climatic  provinces  encoun- 
tered in  the  Tropical  Zone,  according  to  Koppen's  scheme, 
fall  first  into  two  major  subdivisions,  (a)  The  tropical 
Rainy  Climates  and,  (&)  the  Dry  Climates.  Under  each 
of  these  there  are  two  further  great  subdivisions,  (al) 
the  Hot  Damp,  primeval  forest  climate,  (a2)  the  Periodi- 
cally Dry  savanna  climate;  (&3)  the  Steppe  climate,  and 
(&4)  the  Desert  climate.  The  first  two  of  these  secondary 
divisions  may  be  conveniently  designated,  areally,  as  the 
Tropical  Rain  Forest  regions  and  the  Tropical  Jungle 
regions.  Over  limited  areas  within  the  tropics,  particu- 
larly just  north  of  the  Tropic  of  Capricorn,  in  both  South 
America  and  Africa,  there  is  encountered  a  fifth  subdivi- 
sion, (c5)  Warm  Climates  with  Dry  Winters;  these  may 
be  considered  as  the  extreme  of  subtropical  climates. 
Their  occurrences  coincide  generally  with  the  upland  areas 
of  the  Tropical  Zone,   as,  for  example,  Abyssinia.2 

The  Tropical  Rain  Forest  areas  have,  up  to  the  present, 
most  obstinately  of  equatorial  lands,  resisted  development 
by  man.  The  basins  of  the  Amazon  and  of  the  Congo,  and 
the  islands  of  the  East  Indies  and  of  the  Philippines,  are 
type  occurrences  of  this  nature.  Their  inhospitality 
1  Klassifikation  der  Klimate  nach  Temperature,  Niederschlag  und 
Jahresverlauf,"  Petermanns  Mitteillungen,  Vol.  LXIV,  1918,  pp. 
193-203  and  243-248  with  maps  and  diagrams.  Reviewed  by  R.  DeC. 
Ward  in  Geographical  Review,  Vol.  VIII,  1919,  pp.  188-191,  with 
map  and  references  to  earlier  contributions  on  the  same  subject. 

aPlanimeter  measurements,  made  by  R.  S.  Lee  under  direction 
of  the  author,  of  Koppen's  map  show  that  20  per  cent  of  all  the 
area  of  these  five  tropical  climatic  provinces  is  rain  forest,  29  per 
cent  savanna  or  jungle,  18  per  cent  steppes,  24  per  cent  deserts,  and 
9  per  cent  temperate  uplands. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      277 

to  both  savage  and  civilized  man  is  owing  to  a  variety  of 
circumstances.     They  are,  in  the  first  place,  regions  of 
abundant  rainfall  throughout  the  year.      The  enormous 
precipitation,  coupled  with  the  steady  warmth,  supports 
a  forest,  vast  and  unbroken,  made  up  of  huge,  lofty,  and 
prevailingly  hardwood  trees,  and  so  dense  in  stand  as  to 
create  a  perpetual  twilight  under  the  canopy  of  the  leafy 
tops.     The  near-ground-levels  are  obstructed  and  beset  by 
great,  interlacing  vines,  fern  and  moss  growths,  and  pro- 
jecting roots.       All  this  exuberant  vegetation,  comprising 
thousands  of  species  of  plant  life  within  narrow  areas, 
curiously  enough,  includes  few,  if  any,  varieties  that  afford 
food  for  man.     Thus  the  savage,  dwelling  in  the  dank, 
rain-forest  shade,  is  compelled  to  depend  on  fish  and  ani- 
mal life  for  sustenance.     The  tangle  of  vegetation  and 
the  swamps  make  it  difficult  for  him  to  travel  far,  the 
hardness  of  the  trees  renders  futile  any  attack  on  them 
with  primitive  tools.     Even  if  the  savage  could  make  a 
clearing  the  vegetation  would  shoot  up  and  smother  it 
under  twenty-foot  growths  within  a  year.     Domestic  ani- 
mals can  only  be  maintained  with  difficulty,  if  at  all,  be- 
cause there  is  no  food  for  them,  and  they  do  not  thrive 
because  they  are  plagued,  as  is  man  also,  by  great  numbers 
and  many  varieties  of  noxious  insects.     The  bites  of  some 
of  these  insects  are  very  poisonous,  others  of  them  serve 
to  transmit  infectious  disease.    Dangerous  wild  beasts  and 
great  snakes  add  further  to  the  uncertainty  of  life.     But 
the  prime  difficulty  of  savage  existence  in  the  Rain  Forest 
is  deficiency  of  food  supply.     Indeed,  it  is  inferred  that 
man  has  occupied  the  interior  Rain  Forest  of  Africa  only 
in  comparatively  recent  times,  because  of  the  failure  to 


278  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

find  relics  of  a  primitive  culture  in  those  areas.1     Even 
animal  life  is  scarce  in  certain  areas. 

Civilized  man  covets  many  of  the  non-food  products  of 
the  Rain  Forest,  but  is  handicapped,  especially,  in  his 
attempts  to  secure  these  by  the  obstacles  that  the  nature 
of  the  forest  interposes,  first,  to  transportation  through  it, 
second,  to  its  removal,  and  third,  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
ground  it  occupies.  Again,  civilized  man  suffers  even 
more  than  does  the  native  from  the  endemic  diseases  of  the 
Rain  Forest.  And  he  is  at  a  loss  to  provide  himself  with 
suitable  shelter  when  he  finds  that  the  abundant  wood  of 
the  Rain  Forest,  from  which  he  could  expect  to  construct 
a  dwelling,  is,  for  the  most  part,  so  hard  as  to  dull  a  saw 
almost  immediately  it  is  applied,  and  to  resist  absolutely 
the  driving  of  a  nail. 

In  contrast  with  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  Rain 
Forest,  the  life  of  the  savage  in  the  Tropical  Jungle  is 
much  easier,  in  fact  too  easy  for  progress.  Existence  in 
the  jungle  involves  no  incentive  for  sustained  or  construc- 
tive effort.  The  jungle  lands  border  the  more  equatorial 
Rain  Forest,  and  are  regions  where  the  rainfall,  while 
heavy,  is  less  constant  and  is  seasonally  distributed ;  a  wet 
season  is  followed  by  a  dryer  period.  The  vegetation  is 
perhaps  not  less  dense  than  that  of  the  Rain  Forest,  but 
the  trees  are  not  so  tall,  and  many  varieties  of  the  shrub- 
bier types  of  plants  are  encountered.  Growth  does  not 
continue    unchecked   through    the   year;    the   indigenous 

1~R.  Zon,  "Forests  and  Human  Progress,"  Geographical  Review, 
Vol.  IX,  p.  140,  Sept.,  1920,  quoting  H.  H.  Johnson,  "A  Survey  of 
the  Ethnography  of  Africa,"  Journal  Royal  Anthropological  Institute, 
Vol.  XLIII,  p.  396,  1913. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      279 

species  of  plant  life  make  provision  for  maintaining  exist- 
ence over  a  dry  season.  Fruits,  seeds,  nuts,  and  grains,  all 
of  which  include  food  substance  in  their  composition,  are 
produced,  and  of  these  man  eats.  It  is,  indeed,  rather 
remarkable  how  greatly  man  is  dependent  for  food  on  the 
germinal  provision  of  other  organic  life.  Eggs  and  milk 
from  animals,  roots,  berries,  fruits,  seeds,  grains,  and  nuts 
are  chief  items  in  man's  dietary. 

Accordingly  the  jungle  savage  needs  but  extend  his  hand 
to  pluck  plantains,  bananas,  and  pawpaws,  to  gather  wild 
rice  in  Siam  and  edible  bamboo-seeds  in  India.  Along 
the  tropical  sea-shores  coconuts  furnish  meat  and  "milk." 
The  breadfruit  tree,  the  sago  and  sugar  palms,  and  the 
jackfruit  tree  need  only  protection  after  planting  to  fur- 
nish food  abundantly.  The  jungle  can  be  hacked  down  in 
wet  weather  and  the  debris  burnt  in  the  dry  season,  thus 
making  possible  the  creation  of  open  ground  in  which 
yams,  sweet  potatoes,  and  cassava,  yielding  starchy  foods, 
and  nitrogenous  beans,  warmth-loving  plants,  can  be  primi- 
tively cultivated. 

In  the  jungle  lands,  therefore,  most  progress  has  been 
made  in  introducing  organized,  plantation  culture.  But 
the  jungle  lands,  too,  have  their  difficulties.  The  soil, 
under  cultivation,  rapidly  loses  its  fertility.  Vegetable 
organic  matter  decays  so  rapidly  and  completely  that  little 
humus  accumulates.  Soluble  mineral  elements,  which 
plants  incorporate  into  their  tissues,  are  quickly  leached 
out  of  the  soil  by  the  abundant  warm  waters  that  percolate 
through  it.  It  is  possible  to  keep  down  weeds,  but  rank 
tropical  grasses  often  overrun  the  cleared  spaces,  growing 
man-high  and  so  tough  of  root  that  the  draft  animals 


280  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

ordinarily  in  use  can  not  drag  a  plough  through  them.  As 
in  the  Rain  Forest,  so  also  in  the  Tropical  Jungle  it.  is 
difficult  to  keep  domesticated  animals  in  good  condition. 
Domesticated  animals,  therefore,  supply  but  little  manure. 
Moreover,  all  sorts  of  little  understood  bacterial  diseases, 
blights,  rusts,  rots,  and  insect  pests  attack  the  cultivated 
plants,  themselves  flourishing  almost  in  direct  proportion 
to  the  luxuriance  of  the  vegetable  growth. 

Beyond  the  Tropical  Jungle  is  encountered  the  Tropical 
Steppe,  merging  on  one  border  through  typical  prairie  and 
shrub  into  the  jungle ;  while  on  the  other  side  it  grades  into 
the  absolute  drouth  of  the  Tropical  Desert.  The  grassy 
steppe  lands  of  the  tropics  are  typically  the  home  of  pas- 
toral nomads.  Using  the  camel  as  a  beast  of  burden,  other 
nomads,  wandering  from  oasis  to  oasis,  or  engaged  in 
trading  journeys,  sparsely  populate  the  Tropical  Deserts 
of  the  Old  World.  Southwestern  Asia  and  Arabia,  the 
Sudan  and  the  Sahara,  the  campos  of  Brazil  and  the  llanos 
of  Venezuela  are  type  regions  of  Tropical  Steppe  and 
Tropical  Desert.  On  the  better-watered  and  grassy  steppe 
lands  the  inhabitants  get  sustenance  from  herds  of  cattle, 
horses,  sheep,  and  goats;  in  the  deserts  the  camel  sup- 
plies meat  and  milk.  The  date  palm  is  the  chief  source 
of  food  in  the  Old  World  oases  and  the  surplus  fruit  from 
this  tree  is  the  most  important  commodity  of  the  caravan 
trade.  Around  springs  in  the  steppe  lands  and  on  espe- 
cially well-watered  oases  some  grain  growing  is  possible.1 
The  desert  and  steppe  soils  may  be,  and  over  large  areas 
are,  good;  natural  vegetation  is  lacking  or  is  not  of  a  kind 

1  Jean  Brunhes,  "Human  Geography,"  pp.  415-452,  Chicago,  1920, 
gives  an  admirable  account  of  the  culture  of  oases  in  the  Sahara. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      281 

to  make  difficulties  for  cultivators;  the  wide  expanses  of 
these  lands  are  undeveloped  because  they  lack  an  adequate 
water-supply,  not  because  of  too  high  temperatures,  as  is 
commonly  thought.  Where  water  has  been  available,  be- 
cause of  the  monsoon  or  other  periodical  rain-bearing 
winds,  or  because  of  a  large  river  furnishing  the  needed 
supplies  for  irrigation  (now  also  secured  from  deep  wells, 
as  in  India,  for  example),  the  earliest  civilizations  of  the 
world  have  developed ;  and  there  is  no  reason  why  all  those 
areas  should  not  again  support  prosperous  populations, 
contributing  their  part  also  to  the  world's  demands  for 
commodities;  except  that  the  nations  of  the  earth  lack 
understanding  of  their  proper  administration,  or  are 
unwilling  that  the  native  residents  have  an  adequate  share 
in  the  resulting  prosperity. 

These,  then,  broadly  considered,  are  the  several  regional 
aspects  of  the  tropics.  Steady,  unfailing  warmth  prevails 
over  all  the  equatorial  areas.  This  steady  warmth  is  at 
once  their  great  natural  asset  and  the  mark  of  their  charac- 
teristic difference  from  the  other  lands  of  the  earth.  But 
the  development  and  utilization  of  wide  areas  of  the 
tropics,  by  the  white  race,  to  be  great  farm  colonies  for  the 
production  of  food,  has  not  been  prevented  so  much  by  the 
moderate,  regular  heat  of  the  equatorial  regions,  as  by 
the  varying  conditions  of  precipitation  they  present.  The 
uniform  warmth  of  the  tropics  is  enervating,  but  the 
amount  and  the  nature  of  rainfall  their  several  regions 
receive  both  fix  the  climatic  aspect  and  interpose  the  sen- 
sible difficulties  to  Occidental  culture.  Again,  it  is  the 
extremes  in  which  the  precipitation  factor  manifests  itself 
that   particularly  handicaps   developmental    activities   in 


282  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

the  tropics.  The  almost  complete  lack  of  moisture  in  trade- 
wind  deserts,  the  daily  downpours  in  the  latitudes  adjacent 
to  the  equator,  and  the  parching,  seasonal  drouth  that 
occurs  in  the  intermediate  regions,  together  present  a 
complete  contrast  to  the  uniformity  of  the  temperature 
relations. 

It  is  also  a  fact  that,  except  for  the  areas  of  complete 
desert  waste,  these  rainfall  differences  are  each  responsible 
for  a  particular  kind  of  indigenous  plant  growth,  and 
civilized  man  has  use  for  many  of  these.  But  while  he 
can  use  some  of  these  species,  and  indeed  would  much  wel- 
come an  extension  of  their  production,  it  is  the  exceptional 
difficulty  and  the  prodigious  labour  necessary  to  eliminate 
those  growths  for  which  he  has  no  use,  at  least  at  present, 
that  deters  man  most  in  the  agricultural  development  of  the 
tropics.  The  "weeds"  of  the  tropics  flourish  exceedingly 
and  their  obstinate  resistance  is  no  mean  impediment  to 
the  extension  of  man's  domination  of  the  equatorial  lands. 

Before,  however,  considering  the  problem  of  how  human 
labour  may  best  be  applied,  in  view  of  these  difficulties, 
to  the  conquest  of  the  tropics,  it  is  necessary,  for  an 
adequate  understanding  of  what  is  therein  involved,  that 
the  extent  of  the  world's  present  dependence  on  tropical 
products  be  brought  to  attention.  A  statement  intended  to 
serve  this  purpose  must  be,  in  the  first  place,  sufficiently 
concise  to  permit  its  content  to  be  grasped  in  entirety,  yet 
so  much  of  the  detail  must  be  included  in  it  as  will  make 
possible  a  realization  of  the  particular  significance  of  the 
different  items. 

If  it  be  accepted  that  the  critical  factor  in  determining 
the  world's  future  material  well-being  (and,  hence,  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      283 

opportunity  of  each  individual  for  intellectual  develop- 
ment) is  the  matter  of  man's  ability  to  provide  an  ade- 
quate food  supply  for  all  the  human  population  at  any 
time  existing,  then  it  follows  that  first  consideration  must 
be  given,  in  a  summarization  of  tropical  products,  to  the 
actual  and  potential  sources  of  food  material  these  lands 
do,  and  may  in  the  future,  provide. 

In  the  wet,  hot,  summer  climates  of  the  Tropical  Zone, 
rice  is  as  much  the  chief  food  material  as  wheat  is  in  the 
Temperate  Zones,  perhaps  even  more  so.  Indeed,  the  food 
value  of  the  annual  rice  crop  of  the  world,  expressed  in 
calories,  is  double  that  of  the  world's  wheat  crop.1  More- 
over, the  yield  of  rice  averages  between  32  and  34  bushels 
per  acre  in  regions  adapted  to  its  growth,  while  the  average 
yield  of  wheat  in  the  United  States,  for  the  five-year 
period  between  1907-11,  was  only  14.5  bushels  per  acre. 
Rice  is  the  great  food  staple  of  the,  at  present,  densely 
populated  areas  of  the  Tropical  Zone,  India,  the  Malay 
Peninsula,  the  East  Indies,  China,  Japan,  the  Philip- 
pines and  Egypt,  and  has,  indeed,  been  the  chief  factor 
in  making  dense  populations  possible  in  most  of  these 
lands.2  Because  it  is  so  largely  consumed  in  the  countries 
where  it  is  grown,  rice  does  not  have  the  prominence  of 
wheat  in  the  world's  export  markets,  and  its  importance 

1G.  B.  Roorbach,  "The  World's  Food  Supply,"  Annals  American 
Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  Philadelphia,  Publication 
No.  1148.  This  paper  is  the  authority,  also,  for  other  statements, 
bearing  on  related  topics,  made  in  these  pages. 

*  Millet,  of  which  the  acreage  in  tropical  lands  is  almost  half  that 
of  rice,  together  with  coconuts,  bananas,  plantains,  and  various 
starchy  tubers,  sugar  cane,  and  a  great  variety  of  fruits,  are  the 
other  main  food  staples  of  native,  tropical  peoples. 


284  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

as  a  chief  food  reliance  by  one  third  of  the  world's  popu- 
lation is,  therefore,  not  generally  appreciated.  Again, 
while  rice  can  be  successfully  and  profitably  grown  outside 
the  strictly  tropical  areas,  it  nevertheless  thrives  best  in 
regions  where  the  summers  are  wet  and  hot;  precisely 
the  conditions  that  prevail  in  the  equatorial,  rain-forest 
belt.  The  success  recently  achieved  in  growing  rice  on  the 
Texas-Louisiana  Gulf  Coast,  by  use  of  machinery,  is, 
accordingly,  very  suggestive,  for  it  is  indicative  of  the  tre- 
mendous expansion  of  the  rice  crop  that  may  be  possible 
when  power  is  used  to  clear  and  drain  the  tropical  swamps, 
and  when  cultivation  with  machines  supersedes  the  primi- 
tive, garden  culture  that  now  prevails  in  Oriental  rice- 
producing  areas. 

Next  after  rice,  sugar  is  the  most  important,  tropical 
food  product.  The  bulk  of  the  total  rice  crop  of  the  world 
is  only  about  one  third  that  of  wheat,  whereas  one  half 
the  mass  of  the  world's  sugar  is  derived  from  cane  grown 
in  the  tropics.  Moreover,  while  wheat  growing  in  the  Tem- 
perate Zones  is  for  the  most  part,  done  efficiently,  through 
machine  production,  therefore  directly  in  contrast  with 
the  garden-cultivation  conditions  under  which  the  bulk  of 
the  world'.s  rice  crop  is  secured  in  the  tropics,  the  reverse 
is  true  of  the  production  of  sugar  from  the  beet  in  the  tem- 
perate lands  and  from  cane  in  the  tropical  regions.  To 
get  a  satisfactory  yield  from  sugar  beets  in  the  Temperate 
Zones  it  is  necessary  that  the  plants  be  set  out  on  the  best 
of  soils,  deep,  fertile  loams,  and  the  successful  cultivation 
of  the  crop  requires  an  enormous  amount  of  laborious 
toil.  Deep  ploughing,  pulverizing  of  the  top  soil,  hand- 
thinning  of  the  plants,  and  hand-weeding  are  all  essen- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      285 

tial,  as  are  also  many  cultivations  while  the  crop  is  grow- 
ing. Consequently  sugar  beets  can  be  grown  profitably 
only  where  the  population  is  dense  and  the  standard  of 
living  low,  and,  even  so,  culture  of  the  sugar  beet  entails 
displacement  of  other  food  crops,  suited  to  temperate  cli- 
mates, from  the  best  lands.  Only  where  climatic  uncer- 
tainties could  be  eliminated  by  the  practice  of  irrigation, 
and  where  newly  arrived  immigrants  could  be  had  in  num- 
bers to  do  the  great  amount  of  manual  labour  necessary, 
has  sugar-beet  growing  been  profitable  in  the  United  States 
in  competition  with  Louisiana  cane;  and  Louisiana  cane 
production  itself  survives  only  by  virtue  of  protection, 
through  customs  duties,  from  the  unrestricted  competition 
of  the  major,  tropical,  cane-sugar  areas. 

Sugar  cane,  unlike  the  beet,  grows  best  where  the  soil 
is  low  and  moist,  and  where  the  temperature  is  uniformly 
high,  and  the  sunlight,  while  intense,  is  interrupted  by 
frequent  showers  over  a  growing  season  that  (extends 
through  the  whole  year;  typical  conditions  of  the  equa- 
torial, rain-forest  climate.  In  the  subtropical,  Louisiana 
winter  frosts  injure  the  stubble  and  the  cold  weather  that 
then  prevails  reduces  both  the  tonnage  of  the  cane  and  its 
sugar  content.  Sugar-cane  planting  is  easy,  and  the  care 
that  the  cane  requires  subsequently  is  slight,  in  comparison 
with  that  demanded  by  the  sugar  beet ;  steam  ploughs  and 
tractors  are  already  in  use  in  the  cane  fields.  The  chief 
labour  difficulty  experienced  in  the  growing  of  cane  is  that 
involved  in  transporting  the  heavy  stalks  promptly  to  the 
mill.  The  best  equipped  plantations,  accordingly,  utilize 
portable  railway  tracks  and  small  engines  to  move  the 
bulky  crop  over  the  muddy  fields.     Sugar-cane  growing, 


286  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

therefore,  offers  a  great  opportunity  for  exploiting  vast, 
undeveloped  tropical  lands  by  effective  machine  methods. 
The  scarcity  of  sugar  during  the  Great  War,  due,  pri- 
marily, to  the  elimination  of  the  vast  amount  of  beet 
sugar,  normally  produced  in  central  Europe,  from  the 
world  market,  combined  with  the  high  prices  of  sugar  in 
the  post-war  period  brought  about  a  considerable  expansion 
in  tropical  cane-sugar  production.  Except  as  the  im- 
poverishment of  the  European  peoples  compels  them  to  re- 
sume beet-sugar  growing  by  hand  labour,  on  an  even 
vaster  scale  than  before  1914,  in  order  to  secure  a  crop 
which  can  be  readily  exchanged  for  other  raw  materials, 
this  expansion  of  cane-sugar  production  in  the  tropics  bids 
fair  to  continue.  As  yet,  all  the  tropical  supply  of  cane 
sugar  for  export  comes  from  plains  extending  to  the  sea- 
shore; from  areas  where  ocean  transportation  is  imme- 
diately at  hand.  With  the  development  of  adequate  facil- 
ities for  overland  transportation  sugar  production  can  be 
profitably  extended  inland  from  the  existing  plantations, 
and  vast  new  areas  of  tropical  lands  will,  through  this 
crop,  be  introduced  to  world  commerce. 

The  decline  in  the  meat-supply,  in  comparison  with  in- 
creasing population,  and  the  accompanying  decrease  in  the 
quantity  of  animal  fats  available,  both  for  food  and  indus- 
trial uses,  were  bringing  about,  just  before  the  Great  War, 
recourse,  on  a  large  scale,  to  other  sources  of  edible  oils. 
Olive  oil  and  cotton-seed  oil  had  long  been  used,  and  the 
peanut,  in  the  shape  of  peanut  butter  and  peanut  oil,  had 
also  become  an  important  food  material.  More  recently 
still,  production  of  the  soy  bean  and  its  oil  was  greatly 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      287 

expanded  to  meet  this  new  demand.  But  all  of  these,  dis- 
tinctly subtropical,  sources  of  edible  vegetable  fats  and  oils 
in  the  last  few  years  have  been  subjected  to  the  competition 
of  similar  products  derived  from  the  coconut,  which  grows 
only  on  tropical  lowlands.  Fresh  coconuts  have  long  been 
used  by  the  peoples  of  temperate  lands  as  an  occasional 
food,  and  dried  coconut  meat  (copra)  as  a  source  of  oils, 
particularly  for  soap  manufacture.  But  the  discovery  of 
a  chemical  process  by  which  coconut  oil  could  be  converted 
to  a  hard  white  fat  not  less  edible,  and  more  palatable  than 
the  oil  (because  of  the  elimination  by  this  process  of  the 
strong  flavour  characteristic  of  the  coconut)  enormously 
increased  the  market  for  this  tropical  product  by  placing 
it  in  the  category  of  substitutes  for  butter  fat.  Accord- 
ingly there  was  a  tremendous  increase  in  the  demand  for 
coconuts  and  a  corresponding  rise  in  price,  so  that  coconut 
crops  that  had  long  been  wasted  in  tropical  lands  began  to 
be  collected  for  the  market  and  large  plantations  of  coco- 
nut trees  to  be  set  out.  The  demand  for  coconuts  continues 
to  increase,  so  that  apparently  this  kind  of  tropical  agri- 
culture will  experience  great  expansion  and  prosperity. 
Moreover,  as  the  coconut  palm  thrives  best  on  or  near  the 
sea-coast,  and  in  sandy  soils,  its  cultivation  promises  to 
bring  about  a  fringe  of  settlement  along  all  tropical  shores, 
hence  the  establishment  of  the  bases  from  which  the  inte- 
rior, more  difficultly  accessible,  tropical  lands  may  be  pene- 
trated and  brought  under  control  for  other  crops.  A 
coconut  grove  has  the  further  advantage  of  requiring  com- 
paratively little  labour,  once  it  is  planted,  and  continues 
to  bear  for  seventy  to  eighty  years.     Its  product  can  also 


288  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

be  prepared  for  the  market  by  machine  and  will  then  keep 
indefinitely ;  is,  therefore,  of  the  type  that  is  particularly 
desirable  in  the  extension  of  tropical  development. 

The  success  of  the  coconut  led  immediately  to  a  conning 
of  the  characteristics  and  adaptability  of  a  number  of  other 
tropical  nuts  to  plantation  culture  for  production  of  edible 
oils  and  fats.  Among  these  the  most  promising  seems  to  be 
the  palmnut  tree  from  the  fruit  of  which  both  palm  oil 
and  palm-kernel  oil  are  obtained.  The  fruit  oil  of  the  palm- 
nut  tree  is  extensively  used  in  soap-making  and  the  kernel 
yields  a  white  fat  which,  like  the  coconut  fat,  is  the 
basis  of  a  vegetable  butter.  These  products  are  being 
exported  in  greatly  increased  quantity  each  year  from  the 
equatorial  areas  of  Africa.  From  Africa  are  also  ob- 
tained shea  nuts.  These  nut  trees  all  yield  crops  in  the 
abundance  typical  of  tropical  growths,  and  while  the  har- 
vest is  as  yet  largely  derived  from  the  wild  stand,  they 
also,  and  likewise  the  Brazil  nut  in  South  America,  will 
no  doubt  soon  be  brought  extensively  into  cultivation. 

While  these  oil-yielding  products  are  of  much  greater 
basic  importance  as  foods  and  as  the  raw  materials  of 
industry  than  are  tropical  fruits,  discussion  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  increasing  the  supply  and  variety  of  the  latter 
is  more  likely  to  hold  the  interest  of  the  average  reader 
because  wider  availability  of  tropical  fruits  will  give  zest 
to  many  a  meal  that  would  otherwise  be  relatively  un- 
inviting. Chief  among  tropical  fruits  consumed  in  the 
middle  latitudes  today  is  the  banana ;  and  extension  of 
banana  production,  as  well  as  the  problem  of  bringing  into 
the  Temperate  Zone  markets  the  less  well-known  varieties 
of  tropical  fruits,  such  as  the  pineapple,  avocado,  man- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TEOPICS      289 

goes,  papaya,  passion  fruit,  and  custard  apple,  is  primarily 
a  matter  of  providing  transportation  facilities  and  de- 
vising adequate  refrigeration  and  preserving  methods. 

The  introduction  of  new  varieties  of  tropical  fruits 
into  world  commerce  on  a  large  scale  requires,  further, 
the  education  of  the  public  taste  to  them  and  so  creating 
a  demand.  In  the  tropical  countries  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  the  fruits  mentioned,  and  others  even  less  well 
known,  have,  for  long  periods,  been  grown  as  a  matter 
of  custom  in  the  dooryard  of  the  householder;  much  like 
the  farmer  in  the  Temperate  Zones  maintains  a  kitchen 
garden.     Because,   accordingly,  there  has  been  no  wide 

market  for  these  fruits  at  home,  no  effort  has  been  made 

\  * 

to  develop  commercial  plantations  or  to  improve  the 
species.  Because,  also,,  bush  and  tree  fruits  in  consider- 
able variety  are  available  in  the  Temperate  Zones,  a  trop- 
ical fruit  must  have  special  merit,  of  one  kind  or  another, 
to  gain  a  place  in  export  commerce. 

Indicative,  however,  of  the  possibilities  in  respect  of 
tropical  fruits  is  the  history  of  the  banana  trade.  In  1876 
this  fruit  was  exhibited  as  a  curiosity  at  the  Philadelphia 
Centennial  Exposition.  Two  years  later  the  imports  of 
bananas  into  the  United  States  were  valued  at  one  half 
million  dollars,  in  1900  at  six  million  dollars,  and  in  1914 
at  sixteen  and  one-half  million  dollars.  The  major  por- 
tion of  this  supply  comes  from  the  ring  of  lands  that 
border  the  West  Indian  seas  and  from  the  islands  of  those 
seas,  and  owes  its  tremendous  volume  to  the  nearness  of 
the  sources  to  the  great  population  centres  in  the  east  of 
the  United  States.  The  west  coast  of  the  United  States 
gets  a  finer  flavoured  banana,  the  Chinese  variety  from 


290  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Hawaii ;  the  same  variety  is  shipped  also  to  Europe  from 
the  Madeira,  Cape  Verde,  and  Canary  Islands  in  limited 
quantities.  The  continental  equatorial  lands  of  Africa, 
large  areas  of  which  are  well  suited  for  banana  cultivation, 
and  from  which  Europe  might  secure  the  much  greater 
bulk  of  bananas  that  its  numerous  population  could  con- 
sume, are  too  remote  from  the  market  to  permit  successful 
shipment  of  the  fruit  with  the  facilities  now  available. 
But  fresh  pineapples  have  been  successfully  carried  from 
those  areas  to  central  Europe.  As  a  canned  product  pine- 
apples can  be  sent  from  their  point  of  origin  to  any  part 
of  the  world ;  suggesting  the  great,  immediate  possibilities 
of  bringing  other  tropical  fruits  into  the  world  markets  as 
preserved  products. 

The  varieties  of  tropical  fruits  are  so  numerous  that 
they  have  not  yet  been  completely  catalogued,  and  of  the 
particular  qualities  and  adaptability  to  improvement 
under  systematic  cultivation  of  many  of  the  known  kinds 
very  little  information  is  at  hand.  So  also  with  other 
tropical  food  products;  they  are  so  many  that  to  charac- 
terize the  known  species,  even  briefly,  would  too  much 
extend  these  pages.1  Hence  it  must  suffice,  here,  to  indi- 
cate the  significance  only  of  some  of  these,  merely  to 
mention  others,  and  to  point  out  that  many  are  omitted 
from  the  list. 

The  world  demand  for  chocolate,  the  product  of  the 
cacao  bean,  is  increasing  tremendously.     Aside  from  the 

1  See  "Tropical  America,"  E.  V.  Wilcox,  New  York,  1916,  for  an  ex- 
tensive listing  of  such  products  and  a  comprehensive  bibliography  of 
book  and  periodical  sources.  Also  W.  Popenoe,  "Manual  of  Tropical 
and  Subtropical  Fruits,"  New  York,  1920. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      291 

pleasure  it  gives  as  a  confection  and  in  milk  chocolate, 
the  cacao  bean  is  also  highly  nutritious,  and  hence  valu- 
able as  an  energy  food  to  a  much  greater  degree  than  are 
fruits  in  general.  In  response  to  the  increased  demand, 
the  supply  of  chocolate  has  in  a  recent  five-year  period 
(1914-1919)  expanded  by  50  per  cent  over  that  formerly 
available.1 

It  is  significant,  also,  to  note  that  the  coconut  palm 
will  thrive  on  the  salt  sea-shore  sands  and  is  immune  to 
any  but  hurricane  winds ;  that  banana  plants  can  not  en- 
dure brackish  water,  and  hence  must  be  planted  away  from 
coastal  swamps  and  in  not  too  windy  spots ;  and  that  cacao 
must  have  shelter  from  all  strong  winds,  also  must  usually 
have  some  shade,  and  yields  a  product  of  comparatively 
high  value  in  small  bulk,  therefore  is  particularly  suited 
for  cultivation  on  interior  alluvial  plains.  Thus  all  the 
vast  basin  of  the  Amazon  is  adapted  to  growing  cacao,  per- 
haps without  completely  removing  the  primeval  forest. 
The  palm-nut  tree,  already  mentioned,  is  also  adapted  to 
interior  locations.  Accordingly  these  three  or  four  plants 
by  themselves  constitute  a  series  of  growths  that  would 
serve  to  extend  cultivation  progressively  and  successively 
from  the  shore-line  to  the  interior  regions  of  equatorial 
lands  that  are  as  yet  little  exploited. 

A  great  variety  of  plants  that  yield  starchy  foods  flour- 
ish in  the  tropics.  Among  cereals,  rice  and  the  millets, 
which  cost  less  labour  than  rice  to  produce,  barley,  and 

1  Cacao  trees  were  first  established  as  a  plantation  growth  on  the 
West  African  Gold  Coast  in  1905;  in  1920  this  region  exported  200,- 
000  tons  of  the  beans,  nearly  one  half  the  world's  supply.  The 
West  India  Committee  Circular,  Vol.  XXXVT,  No.  G06,  p.  541,  Dec. 
22,   1921. 


292  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

seed-sorghum  are  of  chief  importance.  A  single  sago  tree 
yields  800  to  1200  pounds  of  sago.  Cassava  tubers  are 
used  like  potatoes  in  the  tropics,  and  furnish  starch  and 
tapioca  for  exportation.  Other  starchy  tubers  are  the 
arrowroot,  sweet  potato,  yam,  and  dasheen.  The  bread- 
fruit tree,  also,  is  an  important,  as  well  as  romantic,  source 
of  starchy  food  in  the  tropics.  The  vanilla  bean,  ginger, 
sarsaparilla,  quinin,  chicle  for  chewing-gum,  and  spices 
generally,  are  all  produced  in  the  equatorial  wet  lands. 
From  the  border,  dryer  zones  are  derived  the  citrus  fruits, 
the  olive,  the  almond,  and  the  fig.  Dates,  under  irriga- 
tion, flourish  best  in  the  hottest  desert  oases.  From  the 
arid,  desert  lands  themselves  are  secured  perfumes  like 
frankincense  and  myrrh,  articles  of  international  com- 
merce from  classic  antiquity.  Although  these  perfumes, 
and  similarly  the  chicle  and  quinin,  are  not  foods,  they 
are  mentioned  here  because  they  are  taken  into  the  human 
system  in  some  way.  The  enormous  production  of  to- 
bacco1, coffee,  and  tea,  in  the  moist  belt  between  the  trop- 
ical wet  lands  and  the  tropical  arid  lands,  is  likewise  to 
be  noted  in  this  connection. 

While  the  animal  industry  of  the  tropics,  as  directed  to 
the  production  of  meat,  may  attain  a  considerable  impor- 
tance in  the  future,  the  main  interest  in  promoting  its 
development  at  present  is  due  to  the  need  for  draught 
animals.  In  either  case  expansion  of  this  industry  in  the 
tropics  depends  primarily  on  there  being  available  an  ade- 
quate supply  of  forage  and  other,  more  concentrated,  ani- 
mal foods.  Hence  it  is  pertinent  to  note  that  the  waste 
tops  and  leaves  of  the  sugar  cane  are  excellent  green  fodder 
and  also  when  preserved  in  silos.     Numerous  varieties 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      293 

of  grasses  flourish,  some  in  the  wet,  some  in  the  dry,  dis- 
tricts of  the  tropics.  Of  special  interest,  however,  is  the 
great  number  of  leguminous  plants,  particularly  trees, 
that  yield  beans  which,  on  grinding,  afford  a  concentrated 
ration.  The  algaroba  and  carob  beans  are  typical 
varieties. 

The  broad  significance  in  world  economy  of  tropical 
foods  and  the  related  products,  so  far  enumerated,  is  well 
understood;  but  the  tremendous  bulk  of  the  output,  the 
multitudinous  varieties,  and  the  great  future  possibilities 
for  expansion  of  production  of  these  commodities,  afforded 
through  utilization  of  hitherto  unexploited  tropical  areas, 
are  factors  not  so  fully  appreciated.  The  same  statement 
applies  also  to  the  greatest  single  raw  material  for  industry 
derived  from  tropical  lands ;  namely,  rubber. 

Specimens  of  rubber  were  sent  to  the  French  Academy 
of  Sciences  from  Ecuador  in  1763 ;  in  1770  Priestley 
suggested  use  of  this  substance  for  erasing  pencil  marks 
from  paper,  hence  the  term  "rubber."  Macintosh  in- 
vented the  process  of  water-proofing  fabrics  with  rubber 
in  1820  and  Goodyear  the  vulcanizing  of  rubber  in  1839. 
Vulcanizing  adapted  rubber  to  a  great  variety  of  uses  and 
its  consumption  in  quantity  began  with  the  discoveiy  of 
that  process.  Since  1839  it  has  been  found  that  several 
thousands  of  plants  contain  rubber,  mostly  tropical  spe- 
cies, and  of  these  about  eighty  different  varieties  have 
actually  been  used  as  commercial  sources  of  rubber,  and 
of  these  eighty  varieties  about  fifteen  different  kinds  afford 
the  major  part  of  the  supply  now  available  to  industry. 
In  1900  practically  all  receipts  were  wild  rubber  and 
amounted  to  54,000  tons;  in  1918  the  annual  production 


294  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

of  rubber  was  270,000  tons1  and  practically  all  the  in- 
crease shown  was  from  plantation  rubber. 

The  rapidly  growing  demand  for  rubber  results  prin- 
cipally from  its  use  in  motor-vehicle  tires,  and  80  per  cent 
of  the,  already  enormous,  production  comes  from  tropical 
lands  under  cultivation.  A  large  proportion  of  the  areas 
in  rubber  plantations  (practically  all  the  Malayan  2)  may 
be  presumed  to  have  been  primeval  forest  before  1900. 
The  several  varieties  of  cultivated  trees  may  first  be 
tapped  at  from  three  to  five  years  of  age  and  give  increased 
yields  of  better  rubber  as  they  grow  older.  There  were 
planted  to  rubber  in  1916:  in  Malaya,  625,000  acres;  in 
Java,  230,000  acres;  in  Sumatra,  160,000  acres;  in 
Burma,  40,000  acres;  in  Borneo,  25,000  acres;  in  East 
Africa,  60,000  acres;  in  the  Kamerun,  17,000  acres;  and 
with  smaller  areas  in  other  tropical  countries  the  total 
area  of  rubber  plantations  amounted  to  1,500,000  acres. 
While  Para,  rubber  has  sold  for  as  much  as  $3.12  per 
pound  (1910)  it  has  been  estimated  that  rubber  can  be 
profitably  grown  on  existing  plantations  at  from  25  to  30 
cents  per  pound  and  the  stable  price  is  expected  to  hold 
around  50  to  60  cents.  Here  the  economic  rule  applies 
that  where  supply  about  keeps  up  with  demand,  the  most 
efficient  producers  can  secure  the  price  that  must  be  paid 
to  bring  into  the  market  the  output  of  the  most  handi- 
capped growers  or  gatherers. 

Little  argument  is  called  for  in  regard  to  the  probability 

*H.  C.  Pearson,  "Crude  Rubber  and  Compounding  Ingredients," 
p.  27,  third  edition,  New  York,  1918. 

aR.  H.  Lock,  "Rubber  and  Rubber  Planting,"  p.  11,  London  and 
New  York,   1913. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      295 

of  increase  in  demand  for  rubber,  in  view  of  the  con- 
tinued expansion  of  the  automobile  industry,  and  syn- 
thetic rubber  would  need  to  be  made  very  cheaply,  as  well 
as  in  great  quantity,  to  compete  successfully  with  planta- 
tion rubber  at  a  cost  price  of,  say,  20  cents  per  pound  at 
the  place  of  origin.  Accordingly  it  may  be  expected  that 
many  more  tropical  acres  will  be  reclaimed  into  rubber 
plantations.  Rubber-producing  plants,  like  sugar  cane, 
moreover,  are  of  the  type  that  yield  most  where  they 
flourish  best,  in  this  case  under  the  equatorial  sun  and 
rains,  as  is  indicated  by  the  sites  of  the  already  estab- 
lished rubber  plantations.  Only  the  guayule  shrub  of 
northern  Mexico,  Texas,  and  New  Mexico  yields  rubber 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  be  of  commercial  importance  in 
regions  outside  the  central  tropical  belt.  Citrus  fruits, 
by  contrast,  as  well  as  most  temperate-land  fruits,  and 
cereals  also,  seem  to  give  the  finest  quality  and  most 
abundant  return  when  grown  near  the  lower  thermal 
limits  of  their  range. 

There  are  a  variety  of  other  tropical  gums,  some  of 
them  similar  in  nature  to  rubber,  that  are  important  for 
special  purposes.  Thus  guttapercha  is  used  for  insula- 
tion of  submarine  cables,  balata  for  machine  beltings,  and 
copal  resins  in  varnishes.  Carnauba  wax  is  obtained  from 
a  Brazilian  palm  and  is  used  in  making  polishing  waxes 
and  phonograph  records,  and  shellac,  used  for  similar  pur- 
poses, is  the  exudation  of  scale  insects  that  live  on  certain 
tropical  trees.  Camphor  is  a  volatile  oil  obtained  by 
steaming  the  wood  and  leaves  of  the  camphor  tree,  and 
the  product  is  largely  used  in  the  manufacture  of  cellu- 
loid and  explosives.     Formosa  is  the  chief  source,  but 


296  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

plantations  have  recently  been  established  in  Florida  and 
Ceylon.  Much  more  important  than  these,  however,  is 
chinawood  oil,  obtained  from  the  nuts  of  a  tree  with  the 
same  name.  This  substance  is  used  as  a  drying  oil  in 
varnishes  and  paints,  and  is  imported  into  the  United 
States  to  the  extent  of  five  million  gallons  annually.  The 
trees  grow  from  seed  and  begin  bearing  within  three  to 
five  years,  thrive  well  in  a  variety  of  soils,  and  on  rough 
land,  and  need  comparatively  little  moisture.  Hence  this, 
and  the  similar  candlenut  oil,  would  appear  to  be  admir- 
ably adapted  for  more  extensive  cultivation  in  cool  upland 
areas  of  the  tropics,  and  particularly  on  the  relatively  arid 
lee  slopes  in  the  trade-wind  belts. 

Even  if  the  cotton  production  of  the  United  States, 
which  amounts  to  58  per  cent  of  the  world  crop,  be  ex- 
cluded (as  coming  from  areas  outside  the  tropics)  the 
totals,  in  both  bulk  and  value,  of  the  fibre  materials  ob- 
tained in  equatorial  areas  express  in  a  general  way  the 
importance  of  the  cultivation  of  fibre  in  tropical  lands. 
Omitting  the  cotton  produced  in  the  United  States,  there 
remain  some  nine  billion  pounds  of  cotton,  jute',  silk, 
Manila  hemp,  sisal,  and  minor  fibres,  annually  grown  or 
produced  in  the  tropics,  and  having  a  combined  yearly 
value  of  approximately  one  billion  dollars.  Much  tropical 
land  and  labour  is  therefore  devoted  to  fibre  production 
and  some  expansion  of  this  industry  may  be  expected  in 
the  future.  But  the  tropical-fibre  industry  differs  from 
most  other  tropical  development  in  that  the  supply  about 
equals  the  demand;  there  is  no  great  pressure  for  larger 
quantities  of  these  materials.  The  chief  opportunities  of 
the  future  in  this  field  are,  first,  the  possibility  that  a  more 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      297 

cheaply  produced  material  may  be  found  which  can  be 
substituted  for  some  of  the  coarser  fibres  now  used;  and, 
second,  that  a  higher  quality,  finer  product,  than  any  now 
known  may  be  discovered,  one  that  will  meet  the  ever  more 
exacting  demands  of  certain  branches  of  the  textile  indus- 
try. Long-fibre  cottons  are  an  example  of  what  is  required 
in  the  second  group. 

The  tropical  fibres  are  interesting  in  connection  with 
the  question  of  tropical  development,  furthermore,  in  that 
they  come  from  so  great  a  variety  of  plants ;  and  that  these 
plants  grow  in  diverse  soils  and  under  climatic  conditions 
that  range  from  the  extremely  wet  regions,  where  jute  and 
Manila  hemp  are  grown  and  quite  arid  places,  where  the 
agavas,  from  which  sisal  is  obtained,  are  secured.  It  is 
said  that  there  are  about  750  different  species  of  plants 
in  the  Philippines  alone  that  will  yield  fibre;  a  statement 
that  will  convey  some  idea  of  the  possibilities  for  future 
discoveries  of  cheaper  and  better  sources.  As  an  example 
of  actual  progress  the  recent  development  of  "malva 
blanca"  (Urena  lobata)  in  Cuba  may  be  cited.1  A  cheap 
fibre  is  needed  to  make  up  into  the  twenty  million  sugar 
sacks  required  annually  in  Cuba.  Jute  is  now  used  for 
this  purpose,  at  a  (prewar)  cost  of  16  to  18  cents  per  sack. 
It  was  asserted  (1915)  that  sacks  made  of  the  new  fibre, 
malva  blanca,  can  be  profitably  placed  on  the  market  at 
from  7  to  10  cents  each.  Similarly  suggestive  are  the 
possibilities  of  Hawaiian  olona,  a  plant  that  is  said  to 
yield  a  fibre  of  exceptional  lightness,  great  strength,  and 

*G.  Harris,  "The  West  Indies  as  an  Export  Field,"  pp.  43-46, 
Special  Agents'  Series,  No.  141,  United  States  Department  of  Com- 
merce,   Washington,    1917. 


298  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

remarkable  resistance  to  decay  and  is,  withal,  free  of 
resinous  matter.1 

Even  more  interesting,  in  view  of  the  rapid  depletion 
of  Northern  spruce  forests  and  the  shortage  of  paper  pulp, 
are  the  vast  possibilities  of  the  tropics  for  supplying  essen- 
tial paper  materials.  A  start  has  been  made  in  this  direc- 
tion, as  is  indicated  by  a  report,2  in  which  it  is  demon- 
strated that  a  bamboo,  (Cana  bo  jo)  will  yield  an  easily 
prepared,  fine  book-paper  stock  and  that  the  dense  stands 
of  this  plant  will  replace  themselves  in  three  years,  so 
that  a  comparatively  small  acreage  will  keep  a  mill  of 
considerable  size  supplied  with  perennial  cuttings. 

Future  utilization  of  the  timber  resources  of  the  tropics 
may  involve  a  far  wider  range  of  new  adaptations  than 
is  probable  in  other  fields  of  tropical  development,  because 
the  wood  resources  of  the  equatorial  silva  are  as  yet  so 
little  known.  While  essentially  pure  stands  of  one  kind  of 
trees  do  occur  in  the  tropical  lands,  the  typical  condition 
is  of  a  forest  growth  in  which  almost  innumerable  species 
are  found  in  a  very  small  area,  while  two  trees  of  the  same 
kind  may  be  separated  by  a  considerable  distance.  Up  to 
the  present  this  has  been  a  great  handicap  to  lumbering 
in  the  tropical  forests,  for,  while  a  few  species  (mahogany, 
ebony,  teak,  quebracho,  cedar,  etc.)  have  long  been  well 
known  and  highly  prized  for  various  purposes,  others, 
possessing  often  quite  unique  qualities,  have  been  consid- 

1V.  MacCaughey,  "The  Olona,  Hawaii's  Unexcelled  Fibre  Plant," 
Science,  N.  S. :  48,  236-238,  Sept.  6,  1918.  Idem.,  "The  Hawaiian 
Olona,"  Science,  N.  S. :  52,  240-241,  Sept.  10,  1920. 

2  J.  F.  Boomer,  "Paper  Pulp  Possibilities  in  the  Philippines," 
Daily  Consular  and  Trade  Reports,  pp.  22-24,  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce,  Oct.  3,  1916. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TKOPICS      299 

ered  useless  because  the  particular  purpose  to  which 
they  could  be  put  has  not  been  known;  or,  if  a  peculiar 
wood-need  existed  in  the  industrial  world,  it  was  not 
known,  perhaps,  that  some  species  of  tropical  growth 
would  fill  it  adequately.  Sometimes  the  clue  has  been 
immediately  at  hand  but  has  been  long  overlooked.  Such, 
for  example,  is  the  case  of  the  Central  and  South  Ameri- 
can species  of  trees  commonly  designated  as  balsa,  of 
which  0 chroma  Lagopus  from  Costa  Rica  is  typical.  The 
term  "balsa,"  translated,  means  raft,  and  balsa  trunks 
have  long  been  used  by  the  natives  in  the  regions  where 
the  tree  grows  for  raft  construction,  because  of  the  very 
low  specific  gravity  of  this  timber.  The  whole  of  the  trunk 
wood  is,  volume  for  volume,  only  about  one  half  as  heavy 
as  cork.1  Balsa  wood  has  only  recently  been  exploited 
on  a  considerable  scale  for  use  in  life-preservers.  It  has 
also  been  found  to  be  admirably  adapted  for  refrigerator 
linings,  as  it  is,  in  addition  to  its  lightness,  a  remarkably 
poor  conductor  of  heat.  Utilization  of  balsa  depended, 
however,  on  the  discovery  of  a  process  by  which  all  the 
structure  of  the  wood  is  filmed  through  with  an  extremely 
thin  water-proof  coating.  The  very  rapid  decay  to  which 
the  original  material  is  subject  is  completely  arrested  by 
this  means.  Similarly  suggestive  is  the  fact  that  the 
several  varieties  of  balsa  grow  with  the  extraordinary 
rapidity  that  is  typical  of  many  tropical  plant  and  tree 
species,  so  that  logs  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter  can  be 
grown  from  seedlings  in  a  few  years'  time.     The  balsa, 

1  "Balsa  Wood."  Reprint  from  Bulletin  American  International 
Corporation,  Vol.  II,  No.  1,  p.  10,  Feb.,  1919.  American  Balsa  Co., 
New  York  City. 


300  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

moreover,  is  readily  cultivated  and  can  be  grown  on  worn- 
out  banana  lands.  Considerable  groves  have  already  been 
set  6ut. 

There  is  no  reason  why  many  of  the,  as  yet  unappre- 
ciated, species  of  tropical  woods  may  not  in  the  future 
find  an  equally  important  place  in  industrial  economy. 
The  tropical  forest,  made  up  of  thousands  of  species,  will 
then  be  gradually  displaced  by  groves  and  plantations 
of  the  desired  sorts.  The  cultivation  of  the  rubber,  cacao, 
brazil  nut,  chinawood,  camphor,  and  balsa  trees  is  only 
a  beginning  in  this  direction.  Further,  as  the  qualities 
and  usefulness  of  the  different  species  become  better 
known,  it  will  become  more  and  more  feasible  to  lumber 
the  primeval  tropical  forests  areally,  instead  of  laboriously 
searching  out  and  retrieving  single  trees,  situated  far 
apart,  as  has  long  been  done  in  the  case  of  mahogany,  for 
example.  The  different  woods  can  then  be  shipped  as  a 
mixed  cargo  to  industrial  centres  and  there  sorted  out, 
and  sold  according  to  kind.  When  lumbering  in  the 
tropics  attains  this  stage  the  expense  of  clearing  tropical 
areas  for  plantation  purposes  will  also  be  lowered  greatly, 
for  it  will  then  no  longer  be  necessary  to  pursue  the  tactics 
recommended  in  a  recent  manual  on  rubber  planting;  * 
"The  trees  on  the  land  seldom  pay  for  working,  and  much 
fine  timber  is  thus  wasted,  only  so  much  being  saved  as 
is  required  for  buildings  on  the  estate."  The  British 
author  of  this  manual  also  suggests  that  the  cost  of  clear- 
ing forest  areas  in  the  tropics  could  be  much  reduced  by 
introducing  the   stump-pulling  machinery  so   effectively 

*R.  H.  Lock,  "Rubber  and  Rubber  Planting,"  p.  98,  London  and 
New  York,  1913. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      301 

utilized  in  the  swamp  lands  of  North  America.  It  is  time 
that  in  opening  up  land  for  banana  plantations,  and  for 
some  other  tropical  agriculture,  only  the  roughest  sort  of 
slashing  and  clearing  is  attempted;  thus  the  trunks  of 
large  trees  are  allowed  to  rot  where  they  fall.  This  prac- 
tice will  not  serve,  however,  when  it  is  intended  to  set 
out  an  area  to  sugar  cane.  Even  the  very  perfunctory 
kind  of  clearing  described  is  sometimes  attended  by  un- 
usual difficulties  when  done  by  hand,  as,  for  example,  in 
the  West  Indies.  The  manchineel  tree,  which  is  there  en- 
countered, spatters  the  workman,  who  attempts  to  cut  it 
down,  with  a  poisonous  juice ;  a  liquid  that  causes  painful 
blisters  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  human  skin. 
But  even  this  tree  gives  very  fine  lumber  when  its  wood 
has  been  thoroughly  seasoned. 

It  will  be  realized,  from  this  account,  that  the  resources 
of  the  tropical  forests  are  comparatively  little  known  and 
only  slightly  exploited.  But  the  mineral  possibilities  of 
the  equatorial  regions  may  be  thought  of  as  even  less 
completely  prospected.  It  is  true  that  the  tropics  yield 
immense  quantities  of  certain,  rather  unique,  mineral  sub- 
stances; thus  asphalt,  tin,  nickel  and  jjijxatea.  A  large 
part  of  the  world's  supply  of  those  particular  materials 
comes  from  tropical  areas.  It  is  interesting  to  note,  also, 
how  the  tropics  have  dominated,  from  ancient  days  until 
now,  in  the  furnishing  of  precious  stones ;  a  fact  that  did 
much  to  gain  for  the  Indies  their  reputation  of  possessing 
fabulous  wealth.  But  this  enumeration  of  the  mineral 
production  of  the  tropics  while  impressive,  does  not  bring 
out  the  fact  that  the  substances  named  are  either  of  the 
class  which  has  small  bulk  and  high  value  or,  if  they  are 


302  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

bulky  materials,  are  such  which  may  be  had  from  sources 
close  by  the  sea  where  ocean  transportation  is  immediately 
available  to  carry  them  to  a  distant  market.  With  the 
exception  of  products  like  asphalt  and  oil  it  is  unlikely 
that  the  alluvial  and  coastal  lowlands  of  the  equatorial 
regions  will  yield  large  quantities  of  industrially  useful 
minerals.  But  it  may  reasonably  be  expected  that  the  vast 
ranges  of  mountain  country  in  tropical  lands,  areas,  many 
of  them,  that  have  scarcely  been  visited,  will  be  found  to 
contain  important  deposits  of  a  great  variety  of  metallic 
ores.  This  has  already  proved  to  be  true  in  the  few  places 
where  tropical  mountains  have  been  accessible,  as,  for 
example,  in  Brazil. 

Development  of  tropical  mineral  resources,  over  and 
above  the  primitive  workings  by  natives,  and  the  near-sea 
exploitation  of  the  modem  type,  will  follow  upon  effec- 
tive interior  transportation,  and  perhaps  determine  the 
routes  of  highways  and  railroads.  Such  facilities  are, 
however,  especially  difficult  to  establish  in  the  tropics. 
Climatic  and  topographic  factors  operate  against  both 
the  ready  construction  and  the  maintenance  of  either 
roads  or  railroads  at  a  reasonable  capital  expenditure. 
The  equatorial  lowlands  are  continually  moist  and  soft, 
suitable  road  metal  for  durable  building  or  ballast  is 
commonly  not  available  near  at  hand ;  landslides,  even  on 
slopes  comparatively  gentle,  occur  frequently  because  of 
the  deep  mass  of  wet  soil,  especially  when  the  natural 
equilibrium  of  this  earth  is  disturbed  by  making  cuts 
for  a  grade.  Rails  rust  and  ties  rot  quickly  in  the  steam- 
ing atmosphere,  and  the  rank-growing,  tropical  vegetation 
is  only  kept  down  at  the  expense  of  much  effort.    Tropical 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      303 

rivers,  all,  are  peculiarly  subject  to  flood;  in  those  areas 
where  wet  and  dry  seasons  alternate  the  streams  have 
especially  great  rises  during  the  season  of  rains.  As  rail- 
road lines,  particularly,  must  follow  the  valley  grades  it 
will  readily  be  understood  that  these  floods  do  not  facili- 
tate upkeep.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  desert  area  needs  to 
be  crossed,  great  difficulty  is  encountered  in  securing  ade- 
quate supplies  of  water;  and  the  tracks  in  such  regions 
may  be  buried  under  drifting  sand. 

The  rain-forest  areas  of  the  tropics  have  many  rivers  of 
large  volume,  the  most  notable  of  these  being  the  Congo 
and  the  Amazon.  It  might  be  thought,  therefore,  that 
the  use  of  water  routes  in  those  areas  would  obviate  the 
necessity  of  overland  highways,  and,  indeed,  the  rain- 
forest rivers  are  used  for  most  of  the  long-distance  trans- 
portation of  bulky  materials  in  quantity  that  is  done  in  the 
areas  of  their  basins;  though  human  porterage  is  still 
employed  for  much  of  the  initial  assembling  of  commodi- 
ties. But  the  important  rain-forest  rivers  are,  unfortu- 
nately, almost  all  interrupted  by  rapids  and  falls  which 
obstruct  navigation.  Nearly  all  the  area  of  tropical 
Africa  is  an  upland,  the  lowland  coastal  plain  of  the  con- 
tinent is  very  narrow,  behind  it  the  rivers  descend  from 
the  highlands  in  great  cataracts;  Africa  has  so  long  re- 
mained the  Dark  Continent  because  of  the  difficulty  that 
these  breaks  in  river  navigation  interpose  to  access  of 
commerce  to  the  interior  areas.  The  headwaters  of  the 
Amazon  and  its  tributaries  have  the  same  defect;  rapids 
and  falls  are  encountered  as  the  mountain  regions  in  the 
west  of  South  America,  and  their  mineral  stores,  are 
approached. 


304  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

In  respect  of  local  transportation,  the  chief  handicap  is 
the  lack  of  an  adequate  number  and  of  efficient  beasts  of 
burden.  Horses  do  not  thrive  in  the  tropics,  the  mule 
resists  the  conditions  only  moderately  well,  the  water 
buffalo,  which  is  adapted  to  the  equatorial  setting,  is  a 
very  sluggish  beast.  So  far  as  is  now  known  both  tropical 
South  America  and  Africa  lack  coal  deposits  of  any  im- 
portance ;  hence  it  is  not  feasible  to  substitute  steam  power 
generally  for  animal  traction. 

Aside  from  the  difficulty  of  financing  railway  construc- 
tion, in  advance  of  the  development  that  would  supply  the 
volume  of  traffic  that  is  necessary  for  profitable  operation, 
it  is  evident  that  the  transportation  of  bulky  goods  in  the 
tropical  areas  is  quite  variously  handicapped  otherwise. 
Discoveries  in  quantity  of  fuel  oil  may,  however,  in  part 
offset  the  coal  shortage.  But  there  is  much  greater  prom- 
ise that  the  very  falls  and  rapids  which  now  block  river 
traffic  will  in  the  future  be  the  sources  from  which  the 
vast  energy  required  for  complete  conquest  of  the  tropics 
will  be  secured.  Electrical  transmission  of  power  is  pro- 
gressively being  made  effective  over  longer  radii  from  the 
generating  station,  and  it  may  not  be  long  hence  when 
electrified  railways  will  penetrate  interior  Africa  and 
surmount  the  tropical  Andes.  The  initial  steps  have 
already  been  taken.  In  Brazil,  particularly,  water  power 
is  now  developed  in  a  quite  extensive  way,  and  its  use,  in 
that  country,  is  in  prospect  of  great  expansion  in  the  near 
future.  The  enormous  water-power  potentialities  of  the 
tropics  are  assets  of  no  mean  importance  to  the  world. 


CHAPTER  IX 

INHERITING  THE  EARTH THE   CONQUEST  OF  THE   TROPICS 

Part  II — The  Human  Factor 

The  summary  of  tropical  resources  contained  in  the 
preceding  chapter  is  admittedly  incomplete,  but,  even  so, 
suffices  to  create  the  impression  that  opportunities  of  the 
most  varied  kind  await  the  advent  of  enterprising  indi- 
viduals in  tropical  regions.  While  the  difficulties  of  the 
transportation  problem  appear  to  be  a  very  serious  obsta- 
cle to  attainment  of  complete  control  of  the  tropics,  they 
are  not  insuperable,  as  is  attested  by  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  the  way  of  railroad  construction  in  India, 
Burma,  the  Straits  Settlements,  and  in  the  less  densely 
populated  Central  American  states.  It  is  also  evident 
that  the  variety  of  commodities  procurable  in  the  tropics 
is  much  wider  than  is  generally  appreciated  and  that  they 
comprise,  in  very  large  measure,  staple  foods  and  raw 
materials,  fundamentally  essential  to  industry,  and  that 
for  most  of  them  a  large  excess  of  demand  over  supply 
exists.  The  tropics,  further,  are  a  reservoir  from  which 
many  new  substances  to  supply  old  needs  may  in  the 
future  be  secured.  In  so  far  as  reciprocal  needs  and  re- 
sources are  concerned,  the  densely  settled,  industrial  lands 
of  the  Temperate  Zones  and  the  tropical  regions  are  the 
geographically  different  areas  of  the  earth,  and,  on  this 
basis,    the  current   of  north-south   trade,   already    large, 

305 


306  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

should  in  a  very  short  time  become  preponderant,  and  the 
complete  conquest  of  the  tropics  achieved. 

But  human  adaptations  to  the  tropical  environment 
have  been  almost  completely  omitted  from  the  discussion 
up  to  this  point,  yet  it  is  on  this  factor  that  the  future  of 
the  tropics  depends  more  than  on  any  other.  The  cul- 
tural advancement  of  the  northern  nationalities  and  their 
south-temperate,  essentially  colonial  progeny  has  resulted 
in  great  part  because  the  climate  and  the  resources  of  those 
lands  provided  both  the  geographic  necessity  and  the  op- 
portunity for  work;  while  at  the  same  time  its  elements 
of  weather  permitted  of  persistent  toil  by  the  white  race. 
Out  of  these  conditions  manifold  division  of  labour  arose, 
and  also  industrial  and  national  organization,  with  demo- 
cratic government  and  the  emergence  of  the  individual. 
History  is  the  record  of  painful  struggle,  on  the  part 
of  the  Western  peoples,  from  the  time  of  their  sub-tropical 
origin,  to  achieve  this  adjustment  to  the  environment; 
reading  history  evokes  the  feeling  that,  again  and  again, 
men  seem  obstinately  to  have  turned  their  backs  on  the 
natural  and  geographic  way  to  inherit,  in  its  fulness, 
the  legacy  of  the  temperate  lands  of  the  earth.  Even 
now  the  international  problem  has  not  been  solved,  both 
the  peoples  and  their  statesmen  will  not  perceive  that 
nations  can  endure  and  thrive  most  on  a  basis  of  inter- 
national amity,  and  of  free  exchange  of  what  each  pro- 
duces best.  The  main  problem  has  nevertheless  been 
solved ;  geographically  the  nations  of  the  temperate  lands 
can  and  should  endure,  and  their  relations  with  each  other 
become  more  stable  as  the  backward  groups  adopt  and 
develop  machine  industry,  and  are  no  longer  a  field  for 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS     307 

exploitation  by  individuals  and  groups  from  organizations 
that  have  made  greater  progress  in  capital  accumulation. 
But  it  does  not  follow  from  this  that  the  national  organ- 
ization and  institutions  developed  in  the  northern,  tem- 
perate lands  will  serve  as  the  basis  on  which  the  tropics 
may  also  be  made  to  yield  their  resources  in  fullest 
measure  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  as  a  united  and  co- 
operative whole.  While  the  climate  of  the  tropics,  at 
first  thought,  and  even  after  analysis,  seems  extremely 
monotonous  because  the  steady  heat  and  uniformity  of 
precipitation  conditions  in  any  given  place  is  in  so#great 
contrast  to  the  rapid  and  unpredictable  diurnal  changes  in 
temperature  and  storminess,  typical  of  the  middle  lati- 
tudes, yet  the,  apparently,  minor  differences  of  the  trop- 
ical climates,  because  of  their  permanence,  are  of  greater 
significance,  with  reference  both  to  production  of  com- 
modities and  to  human  life,  than  are  the  annually-variable 
extremes  of  the,  so  called,  Temperate  Zones.  Considerable 
portions  of  the  tropical  areas  are  level  uplands,  with  sum- 
mit elevation  sufficiently  great  to  bring  about  an  appre- 
ciable reduction  in  the  steady  temperatures,  so  that,  while 
these  tropical  temperatures  average  80  degrees  F.  at  sea 
level;  Bogota,  Colombia,  South  America,  not  five  degrees 
of  latitude  north  of  the  equator,  for  example,  has  an  aver- 
age daily  temperature  of  60  degrees  F.  the  year  round. 
It  is  immediately  patent  that  while  20  degrees  F.  tempera- 
ture difference  between  one  day  and  the  next  is  a  matter 
of  little  consequence  in  the  Temperate  Zones,  the  same 
difference,  in  the  tropics,  because  of  its  persistence, 
creates  a  totally  different  environment  and  different 
resources. 


308  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

At  a  mean  annual  temperature  of  60  degrees  F.  to  70 
degrees  F.,  even  though  the  steady  uniformity  typical  of 
tropical  climate  prevails,  that  is,  on  the  tropical  uplands 
where  these  climatic  elements  are  encountered,  it  might 
seem  entirely  feasible  for  the  white  race  to  engage  effec- 
tively and  continuously  in  physical  effort.  Perhaps  as 
acclimatization  by  groups  and  generations  is  slowly 
achieved  it  may  indeed  be  possible  that  such  areas  will 
eventually  be  developed  by  white  labour.  The  lower 
average  temperature  of  the  tropical  plateaus  undoubtedly 
does  much  to  ameliorate  the  debilitating  effects  of  the  high 
humidities  typical  of  the  equatorial  latitudes.  In  fact 
the  uniform,  optimum  level  of  the  temperature  on  trop- 
ical uplands  is,  for  a  limited  period,  actually  stimulating 
to  the  newcomer  from  a  climate  of  greater  extremes. 
Much  of  the  danger  from  tropical  diseases  is  also  elimi- 
nated by  the  altitudinal  effects  on  temperature.1  The 
parasitic,  tropical,  malarial,  and  yellow  fevers,  and  also 
the  hookworm  infections,  in  some  phase  or  other  of  their 
transmission  from  host  to  host,  are  apparently  unable  to 
survive  the  slightly  greater  cold  of  the  uplands.  Expec- 
tation, based  on  these  facts,  that  the  white  occupation  of 
the  tropics  can  proceed  readily  from  the  uplands  should 
not,  however,  *be  too  optimistic,  for  there  remain  to  be 
taken  into  account  factors  that  exert  a  not  inconsiderable 
deterring  force  to  a  programme  so  outlined. 

In  the  first  place,  the  lower  temperatures  of  the  tropical 

1  See  Sir  P.  Manson,  "Tropical  Diseases,"  London,  1914,  fifth  edi- 
tion. Introduction,  pp.  xvii-xxiv,  102,  etc.  Also  H.  E.  Gregory, 
A.  G.  Keller,  and  A.  L.  Bishop,  "Physical  and  Commercial  Geog- 
raphy," pp.  162-163,  Boston,  1910. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      309 

uplands  are  no  less  deadly  monotonous  than  are  the  higher 
degrees  of  steady  heat  experienced  in  the  lowlands. 
Huntington,1  who  has  made  a  detailed  study  of  the  effects 
of  climatic  variability  and  uniformity  on  mental  and 
physical  activity,  is  convinced  that  the  steady  uniformity 
of  tropical  temperatures,  independent  of  their  degree,  and 
independent  of  other  factors,  is  a  condition  that  of  itself 
makes  development  of  tropical  lands  difficult,  if  not  im- 
possible, for  a  resident,  white  population.  Its  effect  is 
to  induce  nervous  breakdown  in  the  white  settler.  Again, 
an  altitude  of  from  3000  to  5000  feet  is  required  to  effect 
a  sufficient  lowering  of  the  steady  tropical  temperature  to 
afford  relief  from  the  heat.  But,  at  so  much  of  an  eleva- 
tion above  sea  level,  the  rarefied  air  very  considerably 
incapacitates  animal  life  for  physical  effort.  While  the 
altitudinal  distribution  of  population  is  in  large  part 
determined  by  considerations  of  transportation  and  com- 
munication, the  effect  of  elevation  on  human  physiology 
is  probably  also  significant  in  determining  that  95  per 
cent  of  the  population  of  the  United  States  resides  at 
levels  below  3000  feet. 

It  is,  nevertheless,  possible  that  tropical  uplands  may 
be  susceptible  to  development  by  white  people,  and  under 
the  same  kind  of  national  and  industrial  organization  that 
prevails  in  the  Western  civilization  of  the  Temperate 
Zones.  The  tropical  Latin- American  states  are  struggling 
to  achieve  that  end.  Most  of  these  republics,  and  notably 
Brazil,  are  endeavouring  to  induce  white  immigrants  to 
occupy  and  develop  the  upland  areas  of  their  domains. 

'E.  Huntington,  "Civilization  and  Climate,"  p.  136,  New  Haven, 
1915. 


310  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

But  it  should  be  noted  that,  however  important  the  com- 
modities exported  by  groups  of  whites  resident  on  tropical 
uplands  may  become  in  international  trade,  those  products 
will  not  be  the  characteristic  tropical  varieties  on  which 
the  north  and  south  exchange  of  goods  that  is  to  dominate 
overseas  commerce  in  the  future  will  be  based. 

European  domestic  cattle  can  thrive  under  the  tempera- 
ture conditions  of  the  tropical  plateau.  The  year-round 
supply  of  green  vegetation,  the  fact  that  no  elaborate  pro- 
vision for  sheltering  the  animals  needs  to  be  made,  and 
that  raising  cattle  under  those  conditions  entails  no  great 
expenditure  of  effort  on  the  part  of  man,  are  all  factors 
that  should  promote  the  extension  of  stock-keeping,  and 
make  it  a  profitable  pursuit  on  the  tropical  uplands.  But 
cattle  are  not  a  tropical  product,  and,  however  much  pro- 
duction of  coffee,  tea,  and  tobacco  on  tropical  uplands  may 
supplement  the  supply  of  those  substances  derived  from 
other  sources,  those  commodities  are  not  strictly  tropical 
growths. 

If,  however,  the  tropical  uplands  do  become  the  seat  of 
a  considerable  white  population,  it  is  possible  that  the 
future  development  of  the  tropical  lowlands  may  be 
directed  from  the  tropical  uplands.  Accordingly  the  na- 
tional organization  and  institutional  adoptions  of  the 
future  upland  groups  may  have  a  considerable  influence 
on  the  nature  of  the  development  of  tropical  lowlands, 
and  the  essential  problem  of  the  conquest  of  the  tropics  is 
to  bring  about  a  complete  and  rational  utilization  of  the 
equatorial  lowlands. 

While  there  may  be  occasion  for  difference  of  opinion, 
as  based  on  the  known  facts,  in  regard  to  the  possibility 


THE  COXQUEST  OF  THE  TKOPICS     311 

that  whites  in  numbers  will  be  permanent  settlers  of  the 
tropical  uplands  in  the  near  future,  it  seems  to  be  quite 
certainly  established  that,  except  by  a  very  slow  and  diffi- 
cult evolutionary  process,  acclimatization  of  the  white  race 
to  tropical  lowlands  is  impossible.  Taylor  1  has  made  a 
very  careful  study  of  this  problem,  as  it  affects  Australia 
(where  a  settled  policy  to  exclude  all  but  white  immigrants 
is  in  force),  and  concludes  that  the  lowland,  tropical  areas 
of  that  continent  can  be  occupied  by  whites  only  as  a 
result  of  an  exceedingly  slow  migration  from  cooler  to 
warmer  regions;  a  matter  of  many  generations.  The 
moist  lowlands  are  especially  difficult  for  white  women, 
there  is  a  high  mortality  in  childbirth,  and  infant  mor- 
tality is  also  very  high.  Thus  a  vigorous,  indigenous 
posterity  can  not  be  bred.  As  Huntington  (op.  cit.  supra, 
pp.  14-15,  27-33)  points  out,  the  white  race  has  degen- 
erated even  in  the  Bahamas,  islands  which  lie  north  of 
the  Tropic  of  Cancer,  have  a  balmy,  rather  than  an 
oppressive,  climate ;  and  are  unaffected  by  such  diseases  as 
that  due  to  the  hookworm.  The  Bahamas  were  settled  by 
Loyalists  from  the  Southern  states  at  the  time  of  the 
American  Revolution,  and  by  colonists  from  Great 
Britain ;  vigorous  stock  in  each  case.  In  contrast  with 
conditions  in  India  and  other  tropical  areas  the  English 
settlers  of  the  Bahamas  engaged  in  the  actual  cultivation 
of  the  soil.  Now,  after  some  three  to  five  generations  of 
occupancy,  the  white  farmers  of  the  Bahamas,  descendants 
of  these  good  original  stocks  are,  on  the  average,  "poor 
whites,"  very  little  superior  to  their  negro  competitors  as 

'Griffith   Taylor,   "The   Settlement   of   Tropical    Australia,"    Geo- 
graphical Review,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  84-115,  1919. 


312  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

a  human  type.  Physical  weakness,  chronic  listlessness, 
irritability,  and  mental  inertness  are  main  characteristics 
of  the  white  Bahamans.  If,  however,  individual  white 
Bahamans,  of  the  existing  generation,  remove  to  a  more 
bracing,  middle-zones  climate,  they  seem  to  recover,  al- 
most immediately,  their  racial  inheritance  of  both  energy 
and  initiative  in  this,  the  ancestral,  environment.  The 
poor  whites  of  Barbados  are  descendants  of  Irish  and 
Scottish  political  prisoners,  whose  ancestors  were  sold 
into  slavery  by  Cromwell,  and  brutally  treated.  A  few 
descendants  of  these  slaves  later  rose  to  be  planters,  but 
most  of  them  degenerated  to  a  status  as  low  as  that  of 
the  negro  labourers;  the  victims  of  poverty,  tropical  list- 
lessness, disease,  and  intermarriage.  Not  many  of  these 
now  remain ;  they  are  mostly  fishermen  and  cattle  keepers. 
Their  children  are  being  helped  to  emigrate  to  the  tem- 
perate latitudes,  where  it  is  found  that  they  recover  the 
ancestral  vitality  and  are  successful  as  mechanics  and  in 
other  pursuits  that  require  expenditure  of  more  than 
average  energy. 

Assuming  that  the  immediate  and  progressive  conquest 
of  the  tropical  lowlands  is  a  world  necessity,  it  would 
appear  that  this  end  can  not  be  achieved  in  the  near  future 
through  application  of  the  manual  labour  of  whites.  In 
considering  any  other  solution  it  must  first  be  realized  that 
the  fundamental  difficulty  that  conditions  the  expansion 
of  trade  between  the  naturally  complementary  areas  of  the 
temperate  lands  and  the  tropics  is  the  fact  that,  while  the 
temperate-land  peoples  are  aware  of  their  urgent  need  of 
tropical  materials,  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  tropics 
generally   are  under  no  such   compulsion.      Either   the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      313 

tropical  natives  do  not  actually  need  what  the  temperate 
lands  offer  in  exchange,  or,  if  they  could  utilize  these 
things  to  advantage,  they  have  not  yet  awakened  to  that 
knowledge.  If  the  white  race  requires  a  greater  volume 
of  tropical  commodities,  yet  is  itself  unable  to  secure 
these,  even  where  the  areas  of  their  growth  or  occurrence 
are  so  sparsely  settled  by  .natives  as  to  be  open  to  alien 
occupancy,  then  the  only  alternative  is  to  secure  the  re- 
quired development  by  stimulating  or  forcing  production 
by  those  races  which  are  competent  to  do  the  necessary 
work. 

It  must  be  confessed  that,  up  to  the  present,  Western 
civilization  has  secured  its  tropical  commodities  for  the 
most  part  at  the  expense  of  the  moiling  labour  of  the 
coloured  races.  This  has  not  been  altogether  a  matter  of 
imposed  slavery,  whether  so  designated  or  not,  for  much 
of  the  labour  performed  by  the  coloured  races,  though  in- 
voluntary (in  that  it  has  not  resulted  from  the  personal 
initiative  of  the  individuals  concerned)  has  nevertheless 
been  compelled  by  necessities,  either  natural  or  tribal,  not 
due  to  white,  or  recently,  Japanese,  domination. 

In  many  parts  of  the  moister  rain-forest  regions,  and 
over  practically  all  of  the  jungle  and  savanna  regions  of 
the  tropics,  life  is  relatively  easy  for  the  native,  because 
Nature  has  provided  ample  food  supply  at  little  labour 
cost,  and  the  need  for  shelter  and  clothing  is  very  slightly 
felt,  if  at  all.  The  coconut  palm  flourishes  along  all  trop- 
ical sea-coasts  and  one  of  its  oily  fruits  will  nourish  a 
man  for  a  day.  Farther  inland,  bananas,  plantains,  and 
the  breadfruit  tree  yield  abundantly;  bananas  the  year 
round,  the  breadfruit  for  some  eight  months ;  and  a  dozen 


314  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

bananas  a  day  are  adequate  food  for  an  able-bodied  man. 
In  a  recent  paper  1  on  the  Belgian  Congo  it  is  stated  that 
the  oil  palm  {Eloeis  guine'ensis)  exists  by  tens  of  millions 
of  trees,  in  clusters,  groves,  and  forests,  over  nearly  all 
the  vast  interior  area  of  the  colony ;  that  it  yields  a  supply 
of  fruit  throughout  the  year,  and  that  the  natives  have 
from  time  immemorial  depended  on  this  tree  for  food 
and  palm  wine ;  the  chief  supplement  to  that  ration  being 
the  sugar  cane  which  is  cultivated  in  little  plots  about  each 
native  village. 

But  it  will  readily  be  understood  that,  even  with  so 
easy  and  ample  supplies  of  certain  natural  products,  as 
the  above  citations  suggest  are  available,  human  food 
cravings  are  not  completely  satisfied.  At  best  the  diet 
that  these  fruits  and  nuts  provide  is  monotonous  and  in- 
nutritious,  particularly  in  that  it  consists  too  much  of 
bulky,  starchy  stuffs.  Sumner,2  indeed,  is  of  the  opinion 
that  cannibalism  originated  in  defects  of  the  food  supply, 
specifically  from  the  lack  of  meat;  and  supports  his  con- 
tention with  evidence  from  many  sources.  Cannibalism, 
for  example,  seems  to  have  been  especially  prevalent  in 
the  Congo  basin,  and  in  just  that  area  where  the  oil  palm 
is  so  abundant.  Salt,  like  meat,  is  seldom  available  in  the 
wet,  tropical  lands,  and  failure  to  secure  this  mineral 
condiment  is  held  to  be  one  of  the  main  provocatives  of 
cannibalism;  because  when  salt  is  not  available  the 
craving  for  meat  reaches  the  intensity  of  a  passion,  which 

lM.  Horn,  "The  Economic  Development  of  the  Belgian   Congo," 
Journal  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Arts,  Vol.  LXV,  1917,  pp.  370,  385. 
3W.  G.  Sumner,  "Folkways,"  p.  329,  et  ff.,  Boston,  1907. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      315 

can  be  most  easily  gratified  by  human  sacrifice.  Horn 
{op.  cit.  supra,  p.  374)  points  out  that  the  natives  of  the 
Congo  regions  will  be  made  much  more  efficient  and 
healthy  "when  they  are  taught  to  increase  their  supplies 
of  vegetable  and  animal  food,  and  enabled  to  add  to  their 
diet  a  sufficiency  of  salt."  Reinsch  x  emphasizes  the  fact 
that  one  of  the  most  important  sources  of  revenue  in  India 
is  the  tax  on  salt,  and  that  a  decrease  in  the  rate  of  the 
salt  tax  actually  augmented  the  total  of  the  tax  return, 
because  a  marked  increase  in  consumption  was  brought 
about  by  this  slight  difference  in  cost.  Because  of  the 
insistent  demand,  and  the  possibility  thereby  offered  of 
imposing  a  tax  on  all  the  native  population,  the  sale  of 
salt  has  been  made  a  government  monopoly  in  the  Dutch 
East  Indies  and  in  Indo-China,  as  well  as  in  India. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  tropical  areas  where 
free  food,  even  of  a  kind,  is  altogether  unobtainable,  and 
the  total  product  of  arduous  native  cultivation  barely 
suffices  to  ward  off  starvation.  These  are  the  regions 
where  a  dense  and  increasing  population,  with  very  low 
standards  of  living,  is  continually  pressing  on  subsistence, 
notoriously  true  of  Java,  India,  and  parts  of  China  and 
the  Philippines.  Thus  five  sixths  of  the  cultivated  area 
in  India  is  devoted  to  food  production,  leaving  only  one 
sixth  to  be  devoted  to  the  production  of  industrial  raw 
materials.  Nevertheless  rice,  the  staple  crop  (except  in 
Burma),  is  not  the  main  food  of  the  common  people;  they 
must   be   content  to    subsist  on    the   more  prolific,   and 

*Paul  S.  Reinsch,  "Colonial  Administration,"  pp.   113,  119,  121, 
New  York,  1905. 


316  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

coarser,  pulse  and  millet.  In  Cebu  and  Siquijor,  of  the 
Philippines,  Waters  x  found  so  great  overpopulation  that 
the  farmers  were  trying  to  grow  two  or  three  crops  of 
com  on  the  same  land  each  year,  but  were  securing  only, 
from  all  three  cultivations,  a  total  yield  that  would  be 
pitiably  small  for  one  crop.  Part  of  the  difficulties  of 
the  Filipino  farmers  are  due,  unquestionably,  to  ineffec 
tive,  primitive,  and  actually  harmful  methods  of  cultiva- 
tion; but  improvement  of  these  methods  does  not  remedy 
the  situation,  for,  as  the  British  have  found  in  India,  any 
increase  in  the  food  supply  seems  only  to  stimulate  popu- 
lation growth  to  such  a  degree  that  conditions  remain  as 
precarious  as  before. 

Even  the  New  World  tropics  are  not  free  from  this 
menace,  as  is  indicated  by  Governor  Yager's  2  account  of 
overcrowded  Porto  Rico.  Four  fifths  of  the  area  of 
Porto  Rico  is  mountainous,  much  of  the  land  comprising 
slopes  so  steep  as  to  be  almost  uncultivable.  Nevertheless 
the  island  has  a  density  of  population  approaching  350  to 
the  square  mile,  engaged  almost  exclusively  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  and  distributed  almost  uniformly  over  all 
the  territory.  In  the  thirty  years  following  1887,  the 
increase  in  population  in  Porto  Rico,  all  due  to  new 
births,  was  always  over  one  per  cent  annually,  in  1915-16 
it  had  attained  two  per  cent,  the  rise  being  due  to  increased 
production  made  possible  by  the  more  stable  conditions. 
There  has,  however,  been  no  corresponding  improvement 

1 H.  J.  Waters,  "The  Development  of  the  Philippine  Islands, 
Geographical  Revieio,  Vol.  V,  p.  288,  1918. 

2  A.  Yager,  "Fundamental  Social  and  Political  Problems  of  Porto 
Rico,"  abstracted  in  Geographical  Review,  Vol.  I,  pp.  211-212,  1918. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS     317 

in  living  conditions  following  the  American  occupation. 
The  people  live  in  mere  hovels  destitute  of  furniture,  and 
each  hut  is  crowded  exceedingly  with  human  occupants. 
Food  consists  of  rice,  codfish,  and  beans,  supplemented  by 
native  fruits.  Wages  barely  suffice  to  maintain  existen 
The  greatly  enlarged  opportunities  for  employment  in 
Porto  Pico,  due  to  expansion  of  commerce  in  recent  years, 
have,  in  other  words,  resulted  merely  in  increased  num- 
bers ;  there  has  been  no  change  in  the  standards  of  living. 

The  foregoing  analysis  of  conditions  in  various  tropical 
regions  indicates,  quite  clearly,  it  would  seem,  that  where 
the  natural  resources  of  such  areas  afford  a  free  food  sup- 
ply the  native  population  remains  sparse  and  ill-nourished, 
partly  because  of  the  defects  in  the  food  supply  itself, 
partly  because  of  the  natural  checks  on  population  increase 
that  are  part  of  the  environment.  Deaths  from  disease, 
high  infant  mortality,  tribal  warfare  and  slavery,  famines, 
due  to  the  occasional  failure  of  even  natural  supplies  of 
food,  as  by  destruction  from  hurricanes,  and  deaths  due 
to  animal  enemies,  taken  together,  reach  enormous  totals. 
In  1904,  for  example,  some  25,000  people  are  said  to  have 
been  killed  by  snakes  and  wild  beasts  in  agricultural 
India,  and,  large  as  it  is,  this  figure  but  suggests  how 
much  greater  must  be  the  percentage  of  deaths  from  simi- 
lar causes  among  the  wild  tribes  of  the  forested  regions 
of  the  tropics,  from  which  no  statistical  returns  are 
available. 

Where  and  when,  however,  the  primeval-forest  and 
jungle  growth  has  been  removed  and  a  culture-provision 
of  food  makes  life  on  the  average  more  certain,  the  effect 
seems  almost  always  to  be  that  the  numbers  of  the  coloured 


318  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

races  immediately  expand  up  to  the  new  subsistence  limit. 
It  may  be  that,  near  by  the  congested  areas,  there  are 
sparsely  peopled,  undeveloped  lands  that,  with  similar 
culture,  could  readily  be  made  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
expanding  numbers,  at  least  for  a  time,  but  the  natives 
have  usually  neither  the  means  for  removal  to  the  new 
areas  nor  any  desire  to  undertake  the  work  of  the  pioneer 
on  their  own  initiative.  There  are  in  India,  China, 
Japan,  the  Philippines,  and  in  Java  sparsely  populated 
areas;  but  there  is  little  or  no  emigration  to  these,  from 
the  intensively  cultivated,  most  congested  regions,  by  the 
natives  of  those  countries. 

These  several  reactions  between  tropical  environment, 
race,  culture,  and  numbers  are  very  strikingly  illustrated 
by  conditions  within  the  relatively  narrow  compass  of  the 
West  Indies,  as  set  forth  in  a  recent  report  by  observers  x 
who,  presumably,  did  not  have  in  mind  any  bearing  the 
facts  they  secured  might  have  on  a  discussion  such  as  this, 
and  were,  therefore,  altogether  unbiassed  in  their  state- 
ments. From  Cuba,  only,  is  it  reported  that  labour  is 
well  paid;  $15  to  $25  per  month,  and  keep,  for  farm 
labour,  $1.20  to  $1.30  per  day  (of  nine  hours)  for  un- 
skilled labour  in  the  towns.  The  Cuban  labourers  are  in 
the  majority  white  immigrants  from  Spain.  By  serving 
only  a  comparatively  few  years  in  Cuba  as  day  labourers 
these  Mediterranean  whites  accumulate  enough  capital 
either  to  buy  or  rent  land  of  their  own  or  to  become  arti- 
sans or  small  tradesmen.  It  is  noteworthy,  also,  that,  while 

1  Gerard  Harris  (and  others),  "The  West  Indies  as  an  Export 
Field,"  United  States  Department  of  Commerce,  Special  Agents' 
Series,  No.   141,  Washington,   1917. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      319 

Cuba  shared  equally  with  Porto  Rico  in  the  prosperity 
recently  enjoyed  by  the  West  Indies,  this  change  did  not 
bring  about  a  notable  expansion  of  the  Cuban  population. 
Rather  it  created  a  labour  shortage,  and  negroes  from 
Jamaica  and  other  West  Indian  islands  were  brought  into 
Cuba  to  help  out  during  the  cane-grinding  season. 

In  Porto  Rico,  where,  as  it  has  been  pointed  out,  over- 
population is  a  pressing  problem,  the  average  jibaros  and 
peones,  farm  and  city  labourers,  respectively,  are  of  inde- 
terminate negroid  origin,  showing  traces  of  Indian,  negro, 
and  Spanish  blood.  In  contrast  with  the  white  labourers 
of  Cuba,  these  Porto  Ricans  got  (1916,  no  change  in  1922) 
60  cents  to  90  cents  a  day,  live  in  palm-thatched  hovels, 
and  very  few  of  them  rent  or  own  land. 

In  Jamaica,  as  in  Porto  Rico,  the  population  is  rapidly 
increasing,  and  over  90  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of 
inhabitants  consists  of  negroes,  East  Irdians,  and  Chinese. 
No  figures  are  given  on  the  wage  rate,  but  labour  is 
abundant,  and  so  cheap  that  the  mahogany  and  other  hard 
cabinet  woods  that  constitute  an  important  item  in  the 
island's  exports  are  sawed  into  boards  by  hand,  "as  has 
been  done  since  the  first  settlement  of  Jamaica."  The 
people  of  Haiti  are  almost  entirely  negroes,  and  in  191G 
were  very  willing  to  work  for  20  cents  a  day.  The  popula- 
tion density  is  200  to  the  square  mile. 

The  Dominicans  of  the  Dominican  Republic,  which 
extends  over  two  thirds  of  the  island  of  Haiti,  are  also 
negroes  and,  except  that  aliens  have  been  permitted  to 
hold  land  and  develop  sugar  production  in  San  Domingo, 
conditions  are  very  similar  to  those  that  obtain  in  Haiti. 
The  more  intensive  culture  resulting  from  the  presence  of 


320  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

the  sugar  estates  has  provided  a  slight  money  income  from 
sales  of  cane,  and  this  income,  with  meagre  cultivation  of 
bananas,  plantains,  papayas,  squashes,  melons,  and  sweet 
potatoes,  raising  of  chickens  and  goats,  gives  the  native 
Dominican  ample  sustenance;  especially  as  he  can  supple- 
ment such  supplies  with  coconuts,  wild  honey,  and  a  va- 
riety of  other  fruits  from  the  woodland  areas  near  his 
hut.  In  San  Domingo  the  food  ration  is,  therefore,  fairly 
well  balanced,  plenty  of  good  land  is  available  by  squatter 
possession,  no  such  thing  as  clear  title  to  land  is  obtain- 
able, and  population  pressure  has  not  yet  made  itself  felt. 
The  native  Dominican  is,  accordingly,  unwilling  to  work 
for  low  wages,  and  high  wages  are  not  obtainable,  because 
the  sugar  planters  import  labourers  from  Porto  Rico, 
Barbados,  and  St.  Thomas. 

In  British  St.  Kitts  the  negro  population  of  a  density 
of  400  to  the  square  mile  work  for  the  sugar  planters  at 
60  cents  per  day,  and  almost  exactly  the  same  relations 
apply  in  French  Martinique.  Barbados  has  a  population 
of  900  (1922)  to  the  square  mile  and  is  probably  the  most 
densely  peopled  area  in  the  world,  in  the  sense  of  com- 
plete utilization  of  the  island  as  a  naturally  defined 
geographic  unit.  Portions  of  Japan  and  China  have 
denser  populations,  but  contiguous  territory  in  those 
countries  is  only  sparsely  inhabited.  Over  ten  thousand 
of  the  Barbados  negroes  own  parcels  of  land  not  over  five 
acres  in  extent,  and  many  more  rent  plots  similarly  small. x 

1But  as  the  whole  island  comprises  only  106,560  acres,  of  which 
74,000  acres  are  cultivable  and  64,000  acres  are  cultivated,  and 
as  perhaps  80  per  cent,  of  the  land  is  in  sugar  estates,  each  one  200 
acres  or  more  in  extent,  owned  by  whites,  it  follows  that  nine-tenths 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      321 

On  these  little  tracts  each  family  grows  most  of  its  food 
and  if  there  is  any  surplus  space  it  is  devoted  to  a  money 
crop  of  cane  or  cotton.  As  nearly  all  the  area  of  the  island 
is  under  cultivation,  the  dense  population  is  very  evenly 
distributed.  There  are  no  crown  or  public  lands  for  sale 
or  settlement  in  Barbados.  Wages  are  low  (24  to  36 
cents  per  day  for  able-bodied  farm  labourers  in  1922), 
a  previously  existing  surplus  of  population  was  compelled 
to  seek  employment  outside  the  island,  but,  while  condi- 
tions in  this  respect  are  the  same  as  those  which  confront 
the  Chinese  coolie,  no  such  squalor  and  misery  seem  to 
prevail  in  Barbados  as  are  found  in  the  crowded  parts 
of  China.  On  the  other  hand,  in  contrast  with  the  indolent 
San  Dominican  negroes,  who  have  at  their  disposal  prod- 
ucts in  considerable  quantity  derived  from  free  lands,  the 
Barbadians  are  remarkably  thrifty  and  saving. 

A  summary  of  the  conditions  in  the  West  Indies  brings 
out  some  significant  relations.  In  Cuba,  the  northernmost 
of  the  large  islands,  where  the  trade  winds  blow  steadily 
for  300  days  of  the  year,  it  is  evidently  quite  possible  for 
white  people  from  the  Mediterranean  countries,  Spaniards, 
and  probably  also  Italians  and  Greeks,  to  live  and  work 
and  maintain  a  high  standard  of  existence;  though 
Englishmen  in  the  Bahamas,  lying  farther  to  the  north, 
have  apparently  deteriorated,  after  being  permanently 
resident  there  for  only  a  few  generations.    In  Porto  Rico, 

of  the  negro  peasant-holders  probably  do  not  own  more  than  half 
an  acre.  Moreover  the  land  held  and  rented  by  the  peasants  is  for 
the  most  part  the  rough  land  at  the  top  of  and  below  steep  cliffs 
and  on  steep  slopes.  Hence  the  Barbadian  negro  has,  after  all, 
only  a  very  slight  hold  on  the  soil  of  the  island. 


322  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

where  the  mean  temperature  is  no  higher,  though  the  rain- 
fall is  greater  than  in  Cuba,  the  negroid  population,  de- 
prived of  ownership  or  possession  of  land,  has  increased 
and  multiplied  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  compelled  to 
live  in  squalor  and  to  work  for  a  pittance.  In  Barbados, 
where  the  heat  is  somewhat  greater,  but  where  the  rainfall 
is  no  higher  than  in  Porto  Rico,  a  very  crowded,  land- 
owning and  tenementary,  negro  peasantry  lives  in  com- 
parative decency  and  subsists  thus  on  very  low  money 
income.  Only  30  per  cent  of  the  country  negroes  are 
employed  the  year  round,  the  other  70  per  cent  receive 
a  regular  m'oney  income  only  during  the  three  months  of 
the  crop  season. 

In  all  four  of  these  areas  a  large  proportion  of  the  land 
has  been  brought  under  cultivation.  Moreover,  in  them, 
sanitation  has  eliminated  some  of  the  dangers  from  trop- 
ical disease.  A  single,  pure,  water  supply,  only,  has 
worked  wonders  in  Barbados;  though  infant  mortality 
and  the  incidence  of  typhoid  are  still  high  among  the 
negroes.  Even  in  Porto  Rico,  where  90  per  cent  of  the 
labouring  population  was  not  long  since  infected  with 
hookworm  (uncinwrva) ,  much  has  already  (1916)  been 
accomplished  toward  a  complete  eradication  of  this 
vitality-sapping  pest,  and  deaths  from  malaria  and  yellow 
fever  in  Porto  Rico  have  been  reduced  to  one  half  what 
they  were  only  a  few  years  ago.  In  Haiti,  Martinique, 
and,  in  much  lesser  degree,  in  Jamaica,  in  all  of  which 
considerable  areas  of  woodland  remain,  relatively  dense, 
land-holding  populations  live  indolent,  shiftless  lives, 
amid  unkempt  surroundings,  because  they  can  supplement 
their  cultivation  with  wild  products.     Sanitation  is  poor, 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      323 

and  a  high  death-rate,  especially  of  infants,  tends  to  keep 
down  the  numbers  of  the  population. 

A  recital  of  land  and  labour  relations  as  found  else- 
where in  the  tropical  regions  would  reveal  enough  corre- 
spondence in  conditions  with  those  that  obtain  in  the  West 
Indies  to  warrant  acceptance  of  the  latter  as  typifying  the 
general  situation.  It  may  be  concluded,  therefore,  that 
the  white  race,  in  general,  is  incapable  of  continued  phys- 
ical effort  and  propagation  of  kind  in  tropical  lands, 
though  South  Europeans  may  perhaps  be  able  to  oeetfpy 
permanently,  and  to  develop,  the  climatically  pleasant, 
though  enervating,  border  areas  and  uplands.  The  natives 
of  the  tropics,  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  American 
Indian  tribes  in  Central  and  South  America,  seem,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  be  able  to  sustain  continuous  toil  under  the 
most  difficult,  tropical  conditions  without  harm  to  health 
or  strength,  though,  comparatively,  their  endurance  varies 
greatly.  The  Chinese  coolie  has  earned  the  reputation  of 
being  conspicuously  the  most  efficient  tropical  worker, 
probably  because  he  represents  a  survival  of  the  fittest ;  is 
the  hardy  and  adapted  offspring  of  generations  of  ancestors 
habituated  to  arduous  toil  under  tropical  conditions. 
Modern  hygiene  has  proved  itself  entirely  competent  to 
eradicate  endemic  tropical  disease,  and  the  introduction 
of  the  methods  of  sanitation  it  prescribes  has  resulted 
in  very  greatly  reducing  the  infant  mortality  among 
the  native  peoples,  as  well  as  in  making  the  native  adult 
physically  more  efficient  by  relieving  him  of  the  devitaliz- 
ing, parasitic,  hookworm  type  of  infections.  At  the  same 
time  this  elimination  of  tropical  disease  has  made  it  pos- 
sible for  the  white  man  to  exist  for  considerable  periods 


324  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

in  the  steady  warm  regions  without  other  harm  than  a 
general  debilitation  of  his  normal  energies.  The  conquest 
of  the  tropics  need  not  be  deferred  because  competent 
workers  are  lacking;  the  problems  are,  rather,  for  whom 
shall  the  task  be  done  and  under  what  conditions  ? 

Experience  in  the  West  Indies,  India,  and  elsewhere 
seems  to  show  that  wherever  the  removal  of  the  wild  trop- 
ical growth  is  not  too  difficult,  as  in  the  jungle  and  savanna 
lands,  development  of  a  culture  system  (whether  by 
origination  among  the  natives  themselves  or  introduced) 
accompanied  by  possession  of  the  land,  enables  the  inhab- 
itants of  such  areas  to  round  out  their  food  needs  with 
comparatively  little  effort,  and  that,  once  this  has  been 
accomplished,  the  native  has  little  or  no  incentive  for 
further  expenditure  of  energy.  The  conditions  then 
favour  the  continued  existence  of  an  indolent  population, 
growing  slowly  more  numerous,  while  supplementing  the 
products  of  its  small  agriculture  with  the  natural  fruits 
of  the  adjacent  wild.  Over-rapid  increase  in  population, 
with  consequent  crowding  and  necessity  for  more  stren- 
uous effort,  is  prevented,  in  general,  by  high  infant 
mortality  due  to  endemic  disease,  numerous  accidental 
deaths  of  adults,  occasional  famines,  and  intertribal 
warfare. 

If  the  normally  high  death-rate  of  peoples  so  circum- 
stanced is  greatly  reduced  by  sanitation,  or  if,  despite  the 
natural  handicaps  of  disease,  a  slow  increase  in  numbers 
takes  place,  population  will  in  time  begin  to  press  on  food 
supply.  Then  more  of  the  forest  land  will  need  to  be 
cleared,  more  dependence  placed  on  cultivation,  and  more 
strenuous  and  steady  labour  required  of  the  inhabitants 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      325 

to  maintain  existence.  If  the  natives  continue  in  the 
possession  of  their  lands  while  this  change  is  taking  place 
the  end  result  should  be  a  thrifty  and  industrious,  dense 
population  requiring  all  the  land  available  for  producing 
the  food  necessary  for  its  own  subsistence.  This  is  essen- 
tially the  condition  of  the  congested  parts  of  China.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  the  lands  where  these  dense  populations 
exist  are  to  any  considerable  extent  appropriated  for  plan- 
tation purposes  the  native  inhabitants  are  pauperized,  as 
is  true  of  Porto  Pico  and  in  large  measure  of  India  also, 
or  are  forced  to  emigrate,  as  from  Barbados. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  peoples  of  the  Temperate 
Zones,  who  desire  the  exploitation  of  the  tropics  in  order 
that  they  may,  with  tropical  produce,  supplement  their 
own  food  supplies  and  acquire,  further,  vast  quantities  of 
industrial  raw  materials  from  the  equatorial  regions  by 
plantation  culture,  these  relations  constitute  the  most  seri- 
ous problem  of  the  conquest  of  the  tropics.  Let  alone,  or 
helped  by  modern  sanitation,  and  instruction  directed  to 
the  improvement  of  their  agriculture,  the  natives  tend  to 
increase  and  multiply  so  rapidly  as  to  exclude  the  possi- 
bility of  devoting  any  remainder  of  land  to  production  of 
a  surplus  of  food  or  other  commodities  for  export.  If 
deprived  of  their  lands,  the  natives  tend  to  be  pauperized 
or  enslaved,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Dutch  culture  of  Java. 
That  the  native  chiefs  compelled  the  same  kind  of  toil  be- 
fore the  coming  of  the  whites  does  not  alter  the  case. 
Seemingly  only  disagreeable  alternatives  confront  the 
temperate-land  peoples:  to  permit,  even  to  help,  teeming 
hordes  of  natives  with  standards  of  living  reduced  to  the 
lowest  essentials  for  existence,  to  occupy  the  tropical  lands 


326  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

to  the  complete  exclusion  of  all  other  production,  or,  by 
one  expedient  or  the  other,  including  actual  slavery,  to 
compel  the  labour  of  the  natives  in  plantation  culture. 

The  important,  even  dominant,  place  that  sexual  pleas- 
ure has  in  the  life  of  primitive  peoples  is  not  generally 
recognized;  primarily  because  the  subject  is  one  that  has 
so  many  disgusting  aspects  that  it  is  generally  avoided  by 
Western  observers  when  they  write  on  native  customs. 
However  barren  of  all  else  that  provides  an  incentive  for 
continued  existence  the  most  abject  human  lives  may  be, 
there  nevertheless  remains  the  pursual  and  the  anticipa- 
tion of  renewed  sexual  gratification  to  provide  a  thrill. 
The  Eskimo  in  his  igloo,  the  tropical  savage  in  his  grass 
hut,  the  Chinese  coolie,  and  the  lower  strata  of  society  in 
Western  nations,  alike  depend  on  such  indulgence  as  their 
one  great  relaxation  and  often,  indeed,  motive  for  exist- 
ence. Particularly  does  this  apply  to  the  tropical  native 
so  situated  that  food  is  easily  obtained.  Aside  from  inter- 
tribal warfare,  hunting  adventures,  alcoholic  intoxication, 
satisfaction  of  small  vanities  of  personal  adornment  and 
simple  games,  the  sexual  lure  is  for  the  males  of  such 
tribes  the  chief  content  and  expectation  of  pleasurable 
activity.  The  dancing  which  is  so  important  a  feature 
in  savage  tribal  life  is  practised,  for  the  most  part,  either 
to  rouse  up  a  war  frenzy,  when  some  marauding  expedi- 
tion is  afoot,  or  to  inflame  sexual  desires.  Referring  to 
the  Arvemba  tribe  of.  northern  Rhodesia,  Africa,  Goulds- 
bury  and  Sheane1  remark  that  the  older  native  men,  as 
soon  as  they  feel  at  home  with  the  mission  doctor,  pester 

1  C.  Gouldsbury,  and  H.  Sheane,  "The  Great  Plateau  of  Northern 
Rhodesia,"  p.  141,  London,  1911. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      327 

him  for  aphrodisiacs;  a  circumstance  which  may  be  re- 
garded as  indicative  of  the  normal  mental  attitude  of  the 
African  negro.  In  consequence  of  the  general  prevalence 
of  similar  abnormal  sexuality  the  institution  of  the  child- 
wife  is  almost  universal  with  tropical  peoples,  for  it  serves 
the  various  purposes  of  relieving  the  parents  of  the  care  of 
the  girl  and  of  bringing  them  a  dowry;  and  of  insuring 
the  husband  some  degree  of  exclusiveness  of  possession. 
Hence,  also,  reproduction  begins  at  a  very  early  age  and 
even  monogamous  families  can  be  large. 

It  does  not,  however,  follow  that  tropical  peoples  are 
under  all  circumstances  prolific.  Their  very  sexual  ex- 
cesses may  make  them  impotent,  and  it  is,  perhaps,  on  this 
account  tbat  considerable  pride  is  often  exhibited  in  regard 
to  size  of  the  family  and  considerable  affection  displayed 
for  the  offspring.  High  infant  mortality  also  tends  to  cut 
down  numbers.  Where  food  from  natural  resources  is  not 
easily  had  and  is  not  plentiful,  and  where,  in  consequence, 
the  natives  are  put  under  the  necessity  of  devoting  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  their  time  and  energies  to  productive 
effort,  as  is  also  the  case  when  population  becomes 
sufficiently  dense  in  any  area,  sexual  excesses  will  be  cur- 
tailed, and  the  elimination  of  debauchery  may  bring  about 
an  actual  increase  in  fecundity.  Thus,  presumably,  the 
numerous  progeny  of  the  hard-working  Chinese,  Japanese, 
and  East  Indians  may  be  accounted  for;  and  where,  in 
combination  with  the  higher  birth-rate,  infant  deaths  are 
reduced  through  introduction  of  modern  sanitation,  great 
increases  in  the  population,  as  in  the  case  of  the  negroes 
of  Porto  Rico,  are  encountered. 

Another  factor  of  considerable  significance  in  this  prob- 


328  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

lem  of  numbers  and  land  in  the  tropical  regions  is  the 
question  of  the  competitive  ability  of  the  various  coloured 
races  and  peoples.  It  has  been  the  general  rule  in  the  pro- 
gressive, migratory  occupation  of  the  world's  lands  that, 
wherever  a  more  advanced,  capable  people,  willing  to 
labour,  have  come  into  contact  with  a  less  efficient,  indige- 
nous group,  the  latter  have  been  both  displaced  and  caused 
to  diminish  in  numbers.  The  retreat  of  the  Indians  be- 
fore the  whites  in  North  America  and  the  practical  ex- 
tinction of  the  Maori  in  New  Zealand  are  conspicuous 
examples  of  this  kind  of  change  in  the  recent  past.  As  has 
been  noted  previously,  the  white  race  seems  to  be  precluded 
from  living  permanently  and  working  efficiently  in  the 
tropics ;  but  there  is  in  progress  a  competition  in  the  equa- 
torial lands,  between  the  coloured  races  themselves,  similar 
to  that  which  has  taken  place  between  whites  and  aborigi- 
nes in  the  middle  latitudes.  As  a  tropical  labourer  the 
Chinese  coolie  is  everywhere  accorded  the  palm  for  endur- 
ance and  efficiency;  East  Indians,  Japanese,  Javanese, 
Filipinos,  Polynesians,  and  Malays  are  all  rated  lower, 
though  the  relative  standing  may  not  be  of  the  order  here 
set  down.  The  many  negro  tribes  in  Africa  and  the  intro- 
duced, mixed  negro  stocks  now  settled  elsewhere  vary 
greatly  in  their  willingness  and  competence  to  undertake 
sustained  physical  toil  in  the  tropical  areas,  but  negroes 
may,  perhaps,  in  general,  be  classed  next  after  the  Chinese 
coolies  as  unskilled  labourers.  Hence  it  is  just  as  expect- 
able that  the  superior  groups  among  the  coloured  races 
should  displace  those  less  potent  as  that  the  white  man 
in  the  temperate  lands  should  oust  the  Indian  and  Maori. 
In  Hawaii  this  is  essentially  what  has  already  occurred. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      329 

The  Japanese  and  Chinese  fill  the  places  and  own  land 
formerly  occupied  by  native  Hawaiians.1 

The  natives  of  the  Philippines  are  in  some  degree  ex- 
periencing similar  competition  with  Chinese  and  Japanese 
immigrants ;  it  is  felt  in  California,  and  has  given  rise  to 
the  "White  Australia"  policy.  Biologically  the  Chinese 
are  more  formidable  than  the  other  coloured  races,  for, 
while  the  Japanese  do  not  do  so  well  in  the  more  extreme 
tropical  locations,  and  the  negro  languishes  in  the  far 
north,  the  Chinaman  flourishes  under  the  equatorial  sun 
and  seems  also  to  profit  by  that  stimulus  which  the  white 
man  derives  from  the  variable  extremes  of  the  west-wind 
climate  of  the  Temperate  Zones.  Indeed,  Nicolai,2  in 
urging  the  folly  of  the  Great  War  to  a  German  audience 
in  the  first  flush  of  the  German  successes,  is  at  pains  to 
show  that  a  struggle-for-existence  war  must  be  a  war  of 
extermination  and  as  such  should  be  directed  against  the 
Mongolian,  whom  he  regards  as  a  real  peril  because  of  his 
ability  to  work  and  save  under  every  sky.  Whether  the 
Chinese  can  assimilate  the  mechanistic  features  of  West- 
ern civilization,  as  completely  and  rapidly  as  the  Japanese 
have,  remains  to  be  seen ;  if  so  the  conquest  of  the  tropics 
may  well  be  left  to  them,  and  this  is,  in  fact,  one  possible 
solution  of  the  problem. 

1  W.  W.  Goodale,  "The  Hawaiian  as  an  Unskilled  Laborer,"  Jour- 
nal of  Race  Development,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  416-437,  1915.  A.  F. 
Griffiths,  "Japanese  Race  Question  m  Hawaii."  Same  Journal, 
Vol.  VI,  pp.  422-440,  1916.  Page  435:  Between  1887-1894,  1238 
Japanese  were  born  in  Hawaii;  between  1895-1914,  42,599;  all  years 
inclusive. 

2  G.  F.  Nicolai,  "The  Biology  of  War,"  pp.  84-89,  see  also  p.  150, 
New  York,  1918. 


330  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

A  Chinese  conquest  of  all  the  tropics,  would,  to  say  the 
least,  scarcely  be  relished  by  the  white  race;  and  in  any 
event  need  to  be  long  deferred.  Meanwhile,  for  good  or 
ill,  practically  all  the  tropical  regions  are  under  the  po- 
litical domination  of  European  stocks,  and  it  is  demanded 
by  Western  civilization  that  a  progressively  increasing 
volume  of  tropical  raw  materials  be  made  available  in 
exchange  for  the  products  of  the  temperate  lands.  There 
are,  no  doubt,  many  persons  of  considerable  intelligence 
who  could  not  be  brought  to  accept  any  doctrine  of  world 
economy  that  was  based  on  restriction  in  numbers  of  the 
population,  if  it  were  proposed  to  make  the ,  restrictive 
measures  apply  to  their  own  nationals.1  It  is,  on  the  other 
hand,  quite  likely  that  a  majority  of  those  who  fear  race 
suicide  at  home  will  be  entirely  in  accord  with  the  idea 
that  a  Chinese,  Japanese,  East  Indian,  Barbadian,  or 
Porto  Rican  congested-population  type  of  occupation  of 
all  the  tropical  lands  by  coloured  peoples  would  be  a  most 
deplorable  circumstance ;  both  for  the  white  race  and  the 
world  at  large.  In  regard  to  the  effect  of  occupation 
merely,  by  the  coloured  races,  on  the  welfare  of  the  world 
at  large,  leaders  among  the  coloured  peoples  might  con- 

1It  is  worthy  of  note  here  that  the  author  of  the  phrase,  "race 
suicide,"  E.  A.  Ross,  Professor  of  Sociology  in  the  University  of 
Wisconsin,  is  now  opposed  to  an  increase  in  the  hirth-rate.  He  is 
reported  to  have  said,  Oct.  6,  1921,  in  the  course  of  an  address  to 
a  student  audience,  "Twenty  years  ago  when  I  coined  that  grossly 
misused  phrase,  'race  suicide,'  I  believed  in  large  families;  today 
with  changed  conditions  and  years  of  deeper  study  of  the  subject 
I  have  changed  my  mind." 

Very  shortly  after  that,  Oct.  14,  1921,  Baron  Bertrand  Dawson, 
physician  in  ordinary  to  King  George,  was  endorsing  "birth-control" 
before  the  Church  Congress  held  at  Birmingham,  England. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      331 

ceivably  have  a  different  opinion  than  the  whites;  but. 
even  the  coloured  leaders  could  probably  be  convinced  that, 
whether  the  white  or  the  dark  races  were  dominant,  it 
would  be  far  better  that  all  the  living  humans  of  a  genera- 
tion exist  in  comfort,  than  in  squalor;  hence  that  all 
measures  tending  to  improve  the  standard  of  living  and  to 
prevent  the  encumbrance  of  any  given  region  with  undue 
numbers  should  be  approved. 

If  it  is  admitted  to  be  undesirable,  from  the  point  of 
view  that  mankind  as  a  whole  is  heir  to  all  the  earth,  that 
the  present  condition  of  overpopulation  of  some  tropical 
areas  be!  permitted  to  extend  to  tropical  regions  generally, 
then  one  of  the  disagreeable  alternatives,  proposed  in  an 
earlier  paragraph,  while  it  is  found  to  be  a  possible  solu- 
tion, is  also  found  to  be  one  that  should  be  negatived. 
The  other  alternative  is  to  secure  in  some  way  the  labour 
of  the  tropical  native,  while  at  the  same  time  his  group 
is  prevented  from  so  greatly  increasing  its  numbers  as  to 
press  on  subsistence.  This,  too,  was  nominated  a  disagree- 
able alternative  because,  in  the  past,  at  least,  every  meas- 
ure designed  to  obtain  their  labour  has  involved  exploiting 
the  natives  by  one  expedient  or  the  other,  ranging  from 
the  most  cruel  forms  of  slavery  to  imposition  of  a  mild, 
indirect  taxation.  Whether,  once  an  enlightened  under- 
standing of  the  problem  is  attained,  the  natives  can  be 
induced  to  undertake  the  arduous  toil  involved  in  tropical 
development,  without  recourse  to  compulsion  of  one  kind 
or  another  and  with  benefit  both  to  themselves  and  the 
world  community  is,  it  becomes  clear,  the  essential  ques- 
tion of  constructive  tropical  conquest.  For  if  Western 
society  can  not  tolerate  the  first  disagreeable  alternative 


332  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

of  an  occupation  of  the  equatorial  regions  by  coloured 
races,  with  numbers  everywhere  up  to  the  limit  of  mere 
subsistence,  no  more  ought  enlightened  opinion  to  support 
any  method  of  acquisition  of  tropical  raw  materials  in- 
volving continued  recourse  to  compulsion  of  native  labour. 
It  is  a  fair  enough  premise,  romantic  idealists  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding,  that  the  tropical  native  ought 
not  be  allowed  to  continue  in  occupation  of  lands  from 
which  he  gets  no  further  benefit  than  a  mere  animal  exist- 
ence, while  using  his  surplus  energy  and  leisure  in  bar- 
baric practices,  as  has  been,  for  example,  the  case  with  the 
Haitian  negroes.  It  is  true  that  Western  society  tolerates 
a  number  of  drones,  who,  through  inheritance,  have  un- 
earned incomes;  but  the  whole  number  of  those  persons 
constitutes  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  total  population. 
Larger  and  larger  percentages  of  such  incomes,  moreover, 
and,  indeed,  of  the  original  legacies  are  being  appropri- 
ated, through  taxation,  for  the  public  benefit.  The  com- 
munity also  exercises  a  right  of  eminent  domain  in  regard 
to  all  real  property  held  by  individuals.  Precisely  the 
same  attitude  may  rightfully  be  taken  in  respect  to  the 
aborigines  of  the  tropical  regions.  Thus,  if  transportation 
facilities  in  the  back-country  districts  of  the  tropics  are 
improved,  if  the  fever-haunted  areas  are  made  salubrious 
by  application  of  Western  discoveries  in  medical  science, 
if  establishment  of  an  effective  police  force  gives  safety 
from  tribal  and  slave  raids,  it  is  only  proper  that  the 
natives  who  enjoy  the  actual  or  prospective  (but  not 
putative)  benefits  of  these  improvements  should  be  made 
to  contribute  a  just  share  of  their  cost,  even  though  the 
changed  conditions  would  never  have  resulted  except  for 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      333 

alien  intervention.  But  individuals  among  the  natives 
should  also  receive  adequate  compensation  for  the  labour 
they  provide  in  furthering  these  public  enterprises.  Even 
more  certainly  should  the  natives  get  adequate  recom- 
pense for  their  toil  in  behalf  of  foreign  planters  and  con- 
cessionaires who  undertake  the  development  of  the  re- 
sources of  the  various  tropical  regions  for  private  profit. 
The  geographical  principle  urged  in  these  pages  for  the 
rest  of  the  world  should  be  made  to  apply  to  the  tropics 
as  well.  In  other  words,  mankind  generally  will  gain 
most  if  the  tropics  as  well  as  other  regions  can  be  devel- 
oped so  that  each  tropical  area  will  yield  a  maximum  of 
the  commodities  it  is  best  fitted  to  produce  and  its  inhab- 
itants receive  therefor,  in  quantity  to  constitute  a  fair 
exchange,  the  goods  most  effectively  grown  or  contrived 
elsewhere.  The  temperate-land  peoples  should  not  expect 
to  enjoy  tropical  resources  by  exploiting  the  negroes, 
the  yellow  race,  or  the  Indians  as  cheap  labourers. 

But  while  statement  of  the  principle  is  simple  enough, 
securing  its  achievement  is  another  matter.  The  political 
leaders  of  the  advanced  nations  are  by  no  means  all  con- 
vinced that  their  countries  will  thrive  most  under  a  free- 
trade  policy,  and  by  each  nation  helping  the  others  to  atr 
tain  a  maximum  of  efficient  production.  The  practical 
difficulties  that  stand  in  the  way  of  making  this  concept 
of  world  relations  to  apply,  further,  to  the  lands  and  the 
folk  of  the  tropical  regions  are  even  greater.  Programmes 
for  tropical  development  as  formulated  by  the  peoples  of 
the  temperate  lands  have  seldom  been  designed  to  include, 
as  part  of  the  project,  measures  to  raise  the  standard  of 
living,  increase  the  material  comfort,  and  to  enlighten  the 


334  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

natives  of  the  equatorial  regions.  But  the  conquest  of 
the  tropics  can  only  be  achieved  by  making  these  items 
prime  objectives  of  the  campaign,  otherwise  it  will  prove 
difficult,  on  the  one  hand,  to  avoid  the  menace  of  over- 
population, and,  on  the  other,  the  necessity  of  exterminat- 
ing the  native  peoples.  If  the  natives  of  the  tropics  can 
not  be  taught  a  surplus  economy,  they  need  to  be  encour- 
aged to  become  consumers  of  more  varied  and  larger  quan- 
tities of  goods,  so  as  to  create  the  reciprocal  demand  for 
the  manufactured  products  of  the  temperate  lands.  And 
the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  rational  development  are  made 
more  formidable  by  the  existing  and  historic  relationships 
between  the  northern  and  equatorial  peoples. 

The  major  portions  of  the  equatorial  regions  of  South 
America  and  Central  America  are  the  domain  of  inde- 
pendent nationalities,  made  up  predominantly  of  white 
stock;  as  is  the  case  also  of  Cuba.  Formosa  is  the 
possession  of  the  Japanese.  China,  Siam,  Liberia,  and 
Abyssinia  are  independent  states  ruled  by  coloured  peo- 
ples, as  were  also  Haiti  and  San  Domingo  until  the  recent 
American  occupation.  With  unimportant  exceptions,  all 
the  rest  of  the  tropical  areas  are  under  the  political  con- 
trol of  the  European  nationalities  and  of  the  United 
States,  white  peoples.  Thus  the  white  race  dominates  by 
far  the  greater  part  of  the  equatorial  lands;  regions  in 
which  individual  members  of  the  white  race  can  not  labour 
effectively. 

The  first  incident,  usually,  of  political  control  by  the 
whites  has  been  assumption  of  power  in  regard  to  the  dis- 
position of  lands  within  the  territories  involved.  The  new 
government  may,  in  asserting  this  authority,  have  merely 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TEOPICS     335 

taken  over  the  prerogatives  of  a  native  ruler,  who  is  then 
superseded.     If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  country  was  one 
of  few  fixed  settlements  it  has  been  customary  to  take 
over  all  unoccupied  land  as  state  domain;  permitting  the 
natives  the  while  to  remain  in  possession,  with  clear  title, 
of  all  lands  actually  occupied  by  them.     Two  mistakes 
have,  however,  commonly  been  made  in  later  negotiations 
with  natives  concerning  title  to  land.     One  was  to  regard 
the  individual  native  as  the  owner  of  a  given  plot,  whereas, 
under  native  custom,  the  particular  person  enjoyed  only 
the  right  of  occupation,  ownership  actually  being  vested  in 
the  tribe  or  in  an  enlarged  form  of  the  family.     Under 
their  own  institutions  the  natives  commonly  regarded  land 
as  having,  like  air  and  water,  the  nature  of  free  goods. 
The  individual,  therefore,  could  have  neither  the  power 
nor  the  right  to  dispose  of  land  according  to  his  personal 
will.     The  second  mistake  was  like  the  first,  in  that  the 
invaders  assumed  that  it  was  within  the  power  of  a  chief- 
tain to  barter  away  the  land  of  a  group  of  natives ;  an  act 
that  neither  was,  nor  could  be,  sanctioned  by  the  tribe. 
Thus  established  native  custom  was  nullified  and  a  native 
system  of  property  rights,  which  should  have  been  main- 
tained while  progress  was  being  made  in  other  directions, 
was  set  aside.     Many  evils  followed  in  the  train  of  this 
change.     The  individual  was  easily  parted  from  his  hold- 
ings by  shrewder  members  of  his  own  group  or  by  aliens ; 
the  chiefs  surrendered  valuable  tribal  holdings  for  trin- 
kets, the  natives  themselves  were  led,  first  to  indulge  in 
extravagances,  and  then  to  sink  into  debt  slavery.     While 
this  has  been,  in  general,  the  course  of  events  in  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  natives  from  their  lands,  other  methods  em- 


336  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

ployed  have  been  to  declare  forfeit  the  lands  of  rebellious 
tribes  and  deportation  of  natives  to  designated  and  re- 
stricted reservations. 

Dispossession  of  natives  from  land  actually  occupied 
for  agriculture,  or  other  regular  and  well-defined  pur- 
suits, ought  to  be  discouraged  by  whatever  means  it  may 
be  accomplished.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  concede  to  the  native  wide  stretches  of  unoccupied  land 
through  which  he  occasionally  roams  in  search  of  fruit  or 
game,  if  this  land  can  be  more  intensively  utilized. 
While  yielding  only  wild  products  such  land  should  be 
left  to  the  native  to  harvest,  in  so  far  as  he  is  willing  or 
capable  of  accomplishing  this ;  but  if  wanted  for  a  higher 
use  the  open  lands  should  be  available  for  alien  occupation. 
But  if  the  natives  are  thus  deprived  of  a  resource  they 
should  be  compensated  therefor  by  adequate  provision  of 
another  sort.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the  transfer 
of  native  holdings  is  now  very  closely  supervised  by  the 
European  colonial  powers  generally  and  is  subject  to  many 
restrictions  designed  to  protect  native  rights.  The 
prosperity  and  contentment  of  the  Javanese  peasantry  is 
attributed  1  in  large  part  to  the  fact  that  the  natives  are 
absolutely  prohibited  from  selling  their  lands  to  a  Euro- 
pean, or  even  to  an  Asiatic  foreigner,  and  that  in  being 
insistent  on  this  particular  safeguard  Dutch  policy  has 
differed  radically  from  that  of  other  nations. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  be  able  to  judge  intelli- 
gently whether  the  particular  proposals  herein  urged 
promise  a  solution  of  some  of  the  immediate  difficulties 
of  the  land  and  labour  problem  of  the  tropics,  it  is  neces- 

*A.  Ireland,  "The  Far  Eastern  Tropics,"  p.   183,  Boston,  1905. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      337 

sary  to  precede  the  suggestions  to  be  made  by  a  statement 
of  the  historical  order  of  tropical  development  under 
European  influence,  supervision,  and  domination.1 

As  in  the  case  of  the  modern  efforts  to  develop  the  trop- 
ical regions,  similar  attempts  in  ancient  times  were  moti- 
vated primarily  by  a  desire  for  commercial  gain.  Settle- 
ment of  new  areas  by  the  important  peoples  of  the  past 
was,  in  fact,  accomplished  almost  altogether  through  the 
establishment  of  trading  posts.  But  the  ancient  colonial 
settlements,  however  broadened  in  their  scope  and  more 
important  they  may  in  time  have  become,  had,  until  the 
Period  of  the  Discoveries,  few  of  the  aspects  of  the  mod- 
ern tropical  colony;  because  the  tropical  colonies  of  the 
ancients  tended  to  become  politically  independent.  More- 
over, the  modern  native  and  labour  question  was  not  one 
of  their  problems.  The  lack  of  swift  communication  in 
those  times,  and  the  inability  of  the  home  government, 
even  if  of  a  comparatively  strong  state,  to  concentrate  its 
energy  quickly  and  effectively  at  a  variety  of  places 
favoured  rapid  emergence  of  separate  political  units.  The 
Eoman  colonization  is  an  exception  to  this  generalization 
because  the  Romans  built  the  roads  that  made  speedy 
communication  between  Rome  and  the  various  parts  of  the 
empire  possible. 

As  the  tropical  settlers  of  ancient  times  were  themselves 
able  to  live  and  work  in  the  areas  where  they  were  new- 
comers and  were  usually  unconscious  of  racial  antipathies, 

^ee  A.  G.  Keller,  "Colonization,"  Boston,  1908,  for  full  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  of  tropical  settlement  in  its  historical  aspects, 
with  an  extensive  bibliography.  Much  of  what  follows  is  derived 
from  Keller's  volume. 


338  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

as  they  are  now  known,  there  was  no  basis  for  a  native 
question.  The  ancient  colonizers,  accordingly,  either  dis- 
placed the  natives  and  took  their  lands,  as  the  Europeans 
did  with  the  Indians  in  North  America,  or,  more  com- 
monly, they  intermarried  with  the  original  inhabitants. 
If,  indeed,  the  immigrants  held  themselves  aloof  from 
social  and  marital  relations  with  the  barbarians  it  was 
because  of  a  feeling  of  superior  culture,  rather  than  that 
of  racial  intolerance.  No  need  was  felt  for  converting  or 
uplifting  the  less  advanced  peoples;  and,  except  as  their 
customs  interfered  with  the  ends  sought  by  the  colonizers, 
the  native  peoples  were  indifferently  left  to  their  own 
devices.  In  other  words,  the  ancient  tropical  colony  was, 
in  accordance  with  Keller's  (op.  cit.  supra)  classification, 
more  in  the  nature  of  a  farm  colony  than  of  the  plantation 
colony  that  prevails  today.  Movement  of  peoples  then 
centred  about  the  Mediterranean,  and,  whether  the  site 
was  on  the  north  or  south  shore  of  that  sea,  it  held  neither 
the  insuperable  difficulty  of  acclimatization  nor  the  prob- 
lem of  compelling  native  labour  for  the  Phoenician,  Greek, 
Roman,  or  Venetian  trader  or  settler.  It  was  like  the 
occupation  of  North  America,  Argentina,  New  Zealand, 
and  South  Australia  by  Europeans.  In  the  American 
South  of  Colonial  times,  a  region  where  a  shading  off 
into  the  conditions  of  the  tropics  occurs,  the  plantation 
type  of  colony,  as  opposed  to  the  farm  type,  did,  indeed, 
become  established,  and  accompanying  it,  quite  normally, 
the  slave  institution. 

Early  emigration  of  the  Chinese,  both  to  temperate  and 
to  tropical  lands,  is  of  interest  because  its  aspects  may  yet 
have  a  bearing  on  the  modern  problem  of  Chinese  immi- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      339 

gration  into  both  kinds  of  areas.  Through  governmental 
activities  and  military  conquest  the  Chinese  extended 
their  rule  widely  into  the  steppe  lands  adjacent  to  their 
country.  Nevertheless  these  areas  were  never  much 
favoured  by  immigrant  Chinese  settlers.  Urged  by  the 
pressure  of  numbers  to  become  emigrants  the  Chinese  ap- 
parently much  preferred  to  move  into  more  tropical  lands, 
even  though  movement  in  that  direction  was  opposed  by 
the  home  government.  In  spite  of  this  political  difficulty 
Chinese  early  made  their  way  into  the  Philippines, 
Formosa,  the  Malay  Archipelago,  and,  overland,  into 
Siam,  Cambodia,  and  India,  and  were  uniformly  success- 
ful in  trade,  and  in  cultivation  of  the  land,  wherever  they 
settled.  The  Chinese  immigrants  were,  in  other  words, 
able  to  work  under  the  most  difficult  tropical  climatic  con- 
ditions, they  intermarried  with  the  natives,  and,  while  as 
a  group  Chinese  colonists  displayed  a  tendency  to  return 
to  their  ancestral  home  after  accumulating  a  fortune, 
many  Chinese  settlers  nevertheless  became  permanent 
residents  of  the  outlands.  Hence  it  would  appear  that, 
if  the  Chinese  Government  had  displayed  the  same  deter- 
mination to  maintain  political  control  over  the  tropical 
settlements  of  its  nationals  as  it  did  over  those  immigrants 
who  were  urged,  or  sent,  into  the  steppe  lands,  and  had 
development  of  the  art  of  navigation  continued  progres- 
sively with  the  Chinese,  there  might  have  been  built  up, 
at  an  early  date,  a  Chinese  Empire  encircling  the  whole 
earth  as  a  wide  tropical  girdle.  While  it  is  as  unlikely 
now,  as  in  the  past,  that  the  Chinese  will  acquire  political 
control  of  the  whole  Tropical  Zone,  it  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  they  will  not  in  time  become  the  dominant 


340  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

racial  element  over  wide  areas  of  tropical  lands ;  for  the 
importation  of  Chinese  labourers,  on  a  progressively 
larger  scale,  may  prove  to  be  the  only  means  by  which 
many  of  the  sparsely  settled  tropical  regions  can  be 
brought  under  cultivation. 

The  problem  of  the  conquest  of  the  tropics  in  its  mod- 
ern phases  may  therefore  be  considered  to  have  been  non- 
existent in  ancient  times.  Although  the  Mediterranean 
peoples  and  the  Chinese,  like  the  modern  Europeans,  were 
similarly  motivated  by  desire  for  commercial  gain  in 
entering  new  regions,  the  ancients  were  competent  in  both 
instances  to  become  farm  settlers  in  the  new  lands,  and 
there  was  almost  complete  absence,  anciently,  of  attempt 
at  political  domination  of  the  colonies  by  the  home  group. 
Only  as  the  search  for  the  sea  route  to  India,  by  the 
Portuguese  in  the  Discoveries  Period,  proceeded,  and 
eventually  succeeded,  did  the  modern  problems  of  tropical 
development  make  their  appearance:  the  questions  of 
political  dominance,  of  plantation  culture,  and  of  forced 
labour.  Moreover  it  was  at  this  time  also  that  interest 
in  the  tropics  began  to  centre  more  exclusively  on  their 
agricultural  products,  at  first  particularly  spices;  and 
agricultural  products,  though  of  a  much  wider  range  in 
kind,  have  continued  ever  since  to  be  the  main  lure  of 
the  tropics. 

The  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  were  the  first  European 
peoples  to  achieve  national  cohesion  in  the  sense  defined 
in  earlier  chapters  of  this  volume.  As  the  result  of  a  long 
period  of  struggle,  the  Iberian  groups  had  succeeded,  in 
the  last  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  in  finally  expelling 
the  Moors  from  the  homeland  and,  in  so  doing,  had  at- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      341 

tained  solidarity  of  place  and  people.  Any  enterprise, 
therefore,  that  these  groups  might,  in  the  future,  under- 
take was  almost  sure  to  be  nationally  organized — as  re- 
ferred to  colonial  expansion  to  be  in  the  nature  of  a  con- 
quest, followed  by  dominion  exercised  from  the  centre  of 
the  home  government. 

Sailing  down  the  African  coast,  the  Portuguese  occu- 
pied the  several  groups  of  islands  lying  off  those  shores  in 
rapid  succession,  and  as  early  as  1441  were  bringing  back 
cargoes  of  slaves  from  continental  Africa.  These  slaves 
were  sought  for  use  on  the  estates  of  south  Portugal;  a 
region  that  had  been  depleted  of  its  labour  supply  through 
the  expulsion  of  the  thrifty  Moorish  agricultural  popula- 
tion. Arriving  in  India  by  the  sea  route,  the  Portuguese 
encountered  a  civilization  in  some  respects  superior  to 
their  own,  but  had  to  deal,  in  a  military  way,  only  with 
petty  rajahs  who  could  offer  no  effective  resistance  to  the 
strangers,  and  who,  in  fact,  welcomed  them  as  merchants. 
No  difficulty,  accordingly,  was  interposed  to  the  immediate 
establishment  of  a  trading  post  in  India  and  a  cargo  of 
pepper,  cinnamon,  and  other  local  products  was  secured 
for  the  return  trip. 

The  Phoenicians  first  inculcated  and  zealously  upheld 
the  idea  of  monopoly  in  foreign  commerce ;  the  Venetians, 
only  just  previously  to  the  Portuguese  discoveries,  had 
become  rich  and  powerful  by  exercise  of  such  monopoly, 
and  it  was  the  ambition  of  the  Portuguese  to  succeed  to 
the  Venetians.  The  Portuguese  further  entertained  the 
notion  of  maintaining  the  monopoly,  not  only  by  mastery 
of  the  seas,  but  also  by  conquest  of  the  areas  from  which 
the  coveted  products  were  derived.     The  Portuguese,  in 


342  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

other  words,  sought  a  tropical  empire  and  the  closed  door ; 
and  it  is  significant  that  the  problem  of  the  closed  door, 
with  reference  to  tropical  possessions  and  concessions,  is 
not  now  completely  solved.  The  Portuguese,  accordingly, 
under  the  leadership  of  Albuquerque,  very  shortly  made 
themselves  complete  masters  of  all  India  and  of  all  the 
East  as  well ;  for  the  native  rulers  of  Siam,  Java,  and  of 
China  were  glad  to  come  to  terms  with  the  conquerors. 

The  Portuguese  conquerors  were  bred,  at  least  in  part 
of  their  number,  under  a  subtropical  sun,  they  intermar- 
ried from  the  first  with  the  native  women,  they  were  pro- 
verbially temperate,  too,  in  their  habits;  yet  they  suc- 
cumbed in  large  proportion  to  the  climate  of  India. 
Moreover  those  Portuguese  who  survived  the  conditions 
and  became  permanent  residents  in  the  East  very  shortly 
refrained  from  any  physical  effort.  All  manual  labour 
was  performed  by  slaves ;  to  engage  in  toil  of  any  kind 
meant  complete  loss  of  social  standing  for  both  men  and 
women  of  Portuguese  extraction.  The  government  the 
Portuguese  introduced  was  no  more  than  organized  rob- 
bery; trade  proceeded  on  the  basis  of  intimidation  and 
terrorism;  the  conquerors  became  parasites  on  the  native 
agricultural  and  industrial  population.  The  immediate 
profits  of  the  extortion  practised  were  great,  but  only  a 
few  shared  in  the  gains ;  primarily  the  King  of  Portugal, 
who  was  the  head  of  the  national  commercial  organization 
through  which  trade  with  the  East  was  conducted.  Ulti- 
mately, indeed,  the  Portuguese  as  a  nation  were  undone 
through  the  corruption  engendered  by  the  distribution  of 
these  colonial  profits. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      343 

Portuguese  were  unable  to  found  permanent  colonies  on 
the  large  scale  of  their  enterprise  of  empire.  Not  only 
did  they  fail  to  establish  themselves;  they  also  depopu- 
lated important  areas  of  natives  by  their  religious  intoler- 
ance and  consequent  regulations  and  persecutions.  In 
Africa  the  situation  was  even  worse  than  in  the  East, 
for  the  African  settlements  did  not  produce  the  coveted 
spices,  hence  amounted  to  little  more  than  slave  stations 
from  which  a  supply  of  black  labour  was  obtained  by 
force,  for  shipment  particularly  to  Brazil,  but  also  for 
use  at  home. 

In  the  East  the  Portuguese  impinged  upon  an  old 
civilization,  and  on  densely  populated  lands,  and  com- 
mandeered the  products  both  of  the  indigenous  culture  and 
of  the  intensive  utilization  of  the  natural  resources.  In 
Africa  they  enslaved  and  deported  the  population  itself. 
In  the  New  World  they  encountered  a  third  and  different 
set  of  conditions.  The  American  Indians  had  no  organi- 
zations comparable  to  those  controlled  by  the  native  rulers 
of  India.  It  was,  therefore,  impossible  for  the  Portuguese 
in  Brazil  to  make  demands  on  native  rulers  and  so  bring 
about  increased  production  of  the  commodities  especially 
desired  in  Europe.  Moreover,  with  the  exception  of  the 
dyewood,  the  indigenous  natural  growths  of  Brazil  did  not 
afford  exportable  materials.  The  new  land  in  the  West, 
therefore,  was  held  of  little  account  in  comparison  to 
India  and  was  used  as  a  place  of  exile  for  convicts  and 
women  of  ill  repute.  The  voluntary  immigration  of  Por- 
tuguese Jews,  it  is  true,  added  a  better  element  to  the 
population  of  Brazil  in  a  later  period.  Intermarriage 
with  the  natives,  however,  began  at  an  early  date.     The 


344  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

admixture  of  these  rather  incongruous  elements  eventually 
resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  nondescript,  resident 
population  in  considerable  numbers  in  Brazil.  The  Jews 
introduced  the  sugar  cane,  which  flourished  and  yielded  a 
good  profit  from  the  outset.  The  rapid  development  of 
both  sugar  and  tobacco  plantations  attracted  further  de- 
sirable immigration. 

But  the  Portuguese  if  able  here,  as  in  India,  better  to 
withstand  the  tropical  climate  than  other  Europeans  would 
have,  nevertheless  could  not  develop  Brazil  as  a  farm 
colony.  Infant  mortality  at  first  was  very  high.  The 
need  for  more  labourers  early  led  to  the  enslavement  of 
the  Indian  population,  although  the  Jesuits  opposed  this 
on  technical,  religious  grounds  rather  than  as  a  protest 
against  slavery  as  an  institution.  The  American  Indians, 
however,  wTere  both  physically  and  temperamentally  un- 
fitted to  become  agricultural  slaves.  They  preferred  death 
to  submission  to  toil,  to  exposure  to  strange  epidemic  dis- 
eases, and  to  the  servile  station.  Nevertheless,  because 
they  were  available  immediately  at  hand,  hence  cheap,  the 
Indians  were  compelled  to  work,  and  the  planters  finally 
used  drastic  measures  to  bring  about  a  termination  of  the 
resistance  of  the  Jesuits  to  this  enslavement  of  their  red 
charges.  Slave  labour,  however,  is  proverbially  ineffi- 
cient ;  that  performed  by  the  Indians  in  Brazil  was  excep- 
tionally so.  At  a  very  early  date,  therefore,  negroes  were 
imported  into  Brazil  from  the  Guinea  coast  of  Africa. 
As  the  supply  of  Indian  labour  declined  and  the  great 
superiority  of  the  black  men  as  plantation  workers  be- 
came manifest,  negroes  were  brought  in  so  large  numbers 
that  by   1585  negro  slaves  constituted  14,000  of  a  total 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      345 

population  of  57,000  in  the  Brazil  settlement.  Between 
1759  and  1803  some  642,000  negroes  were  shipped  to 
Brazil,  but  not  more  than  two  thirds  of  this  number, 
probably,  survived  to  work  on  the  plantations. 

The  Spanish  development  of  the  West  Indies  proceeded 
in  essentially  similar  fashion  to  that  of  the  Portuguese  in 
Brazil.  The  docile  aborigines  of  Cuba  and  Haiti  were 
almost  immediately  enslaved  by  the  Spaniards  for  work  in 
the  mines  and  on  the  plantations,  and  so  brutally  were  the 
Indians  treated  that  hundreds  of  them  committed  suicide. 
The  supply  of  native  labourers  accordingly  began  to  fail 
at  a  very  early  date  and  many  of  the  Spanish  settlers 
lacking  men  to  work  the  plantations,  found  it  more  profit- 
able to  follow  Pizarro  into  Peru.  To  induce  the  Spanish 
adventurers  to  remain  in  the  islands  their  home  govern- 
ment gave  them  permission  to  import  negro  slaves  from 
Africa,  and  thus  was  founded  the  negro  population  which 
now  predominates  in  all  the  West  Indies  except  Cuba. 
The  Spaniards,  like  the  Portuguese,  had  a  large  contempt 
for  agriculture,  industry,  and  trade,  especially  that  of  a 
petty  sort.  In  view  of  their  Mediterranean  origins,  de- 
scendants of  both  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  might 
have  become  acclimated,  in  at  least  the  border-tropical  and 
upland  areas  of  their  American  possessions,  in  the  cen- 
turies that  have  elapsed  since  the  Discovery,  and  have  de- 
veloped those  lands  into  colonies  and  nations  of  the  farm 
type.  But  the  settlers  themselves  refused  persistently  to 
engage  in  manual  labour;  and  failing  in  this  they  could 
not  become  truly  rooted  in  the  soil. 

Magellan  discovered  the  Philippines  in  1521,  but  found 
them  unattractive,  commercially,  because,  like  the  West 


346  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Indies,  the  population  of  the  Pacific  archipelago  was  un- 
civilized, and  the  islands  themselves  unproductive  of 
spices  or  precious  metals.  Hence  no  systematic  attempt 
was  made  to  conquer  the  Philippines'until  1564,  and  the 
effort  then  was  directed  rather  to  religious  conversion  than 
to  exploitation.  As  there  was  no  pressing  demand  in  the 
Philippines  for  native  labour,  either  in  mines  or  on  planta- 
tions, the  effect  of  the  Spanish  conquest  was  much  happier 
than  in  America.  It  is  true  that  the  Chinese  who,  as 
traders,  had  visited  the  islands  before  their  discovery  by 
the  Spaniards,  and  who  came  later  as  settlers,  were  cor- 
dially hated,  and  in  1639  were  provoked  into  an  uprising 
in  which  some  22,000  are  said  to  have  perished  during  five 
months  of  fighting.  But  the  Filipinos,  and  even  the 
Chinese-Filipino  half-breeds,  were  parties  to  the  Spanish 
hatred  of  the  Chinese,  which  had  its  origin  in  jealousy  of 
the  success  of  the  Chinese  in  business  pursuits,  and  is 
today  as  bitter  as  it  was  centuries  ago.  There  was,  how- 
ever, little  or  no  Spanish  emigration  to  the  Philippines 
and,  although  the  Chinese  later  increased  in  numbers,  the 
population  of  the  islands  has  remained  very  predominantly 
Malayan.  Sugar,  Manila  hemp,  and  tobacco  were  at  an 
early  date  cultivated  for  exportation,  but  only  on  a  small 
scale,  and  mainly  under  the  direction  of  the  Friars.  The 
Spanish  establishments  in  the  Philippines  were  essentially 
missionary-religious.  The  Fathers  taught  the  natives 
to  till  the  soil,  fostered  industry  to  a  slight  extent,  and  pro- 
vided the  simple  education  they  judged  suitable  for  the 
inhabitants. 

Yet  the  rule  of  the  clergy  was  not  without  its  drawbacks. 
They  held  vast  lands  and  they  levied  various  kinds  of  head 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      347 

and  licence  taxes,  increased  in  later  years  by  governmental 
impositions.  While  the  actual  sum  of  these  taxes  was  not 
large,  the  amounts  collected  were  nevertheless  high  in  pro- 
portion to  the  wage  received  by  native  labour,  five  to  ten 
cents  a  day.  Having  to  contend  with  both  clerical  and 
governmental  impositions,  the  Filipinos  were  often  in- 
volved in  a  life-long,  fruitless  attempt  to  meet  their  obliga- 
tions. The  struggle  to  pay  the  taxes  demanded,  coupled 
with  the  repression  of  all  attempts  at  significant  industrial 
progress  (it  took  one  proprietor  six  years  to  get  permission 
to  build  a  tiny  railroad  and  to  pass  the  materials  for  it 
through  the  custom-house)  kept  the  Philippines  in  a  very 
backward  state  of  development  up  to  the  time  of  the 
American   occupation. 

Alliteratively  expressed,  the  motives  of  the  Portuguese 
and  Spaniards  in  tropical  colonization  were  three — con- 
quest, conversion  (religious),  and  commerce.  The  Dutch, 
who  succeeded  the  Portuguese  in  India  and  the  islands  of 
the  East,  had,  as  their  original  and  sole  purpose,  commer- 
cial advantage.  The  Dutch,  accordingly,  made  conquests 
only  as  military  compulsion  seemed  necessary  to  insure 
the  success  of  trade;  the  religious  state  of  the  aborigines 
troubled  the  Netherlander  but  little,  if  at  all.  The  Dutch 
attitude,  therefore,  coincides  more  nearly  than  that  of 
their  predecessors  with  the  modern  view  of  the  relations 
that  should  obtain  between  Western  civilization  and  the 
tropical  peoples.  For,  while  much  has  been  written  about 
the  responsibility  of  the  white  man  to  promote  the  uplift 
and  development  of  the  coloured  races,  white  rule  is  now 
motivated  primarily  by  desire  to  secure  protection  and  ex- 
tension of  trade.     The  statesmen  and  governments  of  the 


348  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

European  nations  have  only  secondary  interest  in  the 
religious  propaganda  carried  on  by  various  church  asso- 
ciations among  the  tropical  peoples.  Nor  do  they  show 
any  greater  concern  in  respect  of  other  unofficial  projects 
having  for  their  purpose  the  improvement  of  the  .educa- 
tional or  industrial  status  of  the  native  occupants  of  the 
tropical  areas  over  which  they  exercise  political  control. 

The  overweening  pride  of  the  Portuguese,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  their  early  success  in  the  India  trade,  and  the 
ruinous  prosperity  resulting  from  this  success,  led  them 
to  forbid  the  exportation  of  Oriental  goods  from  Portugal 
in  Portuguese  ships.  The  enaction  of  this  curious,  and 
economically  unwise,  regulation  was  prompted  by  a  double 
motive.  In  the  first  place  it  was  conceived  that  through 
its  operation  all  other  nations  would  be  forced  to  come  to 
Lisbon  for  Oriental  commodities.  Thus  not  only  would 
Lisbon  be  made  a  busy  entrepot,  but  also  national  vanity 
would  be  much  gratified.  The  other  notion  was  that  by 
making  Lisbon  a  free  market  for  the  products  of  the  East 
all  incentive  for  attempting  the  voyage  to  India  would  be 
removed. 

It  was  but  natural  that  the  Dutch,  who  had,  meanwhile, 
developed  into  an  energetic,  seafaring  people,  should  un- 
der these  circumstances,  quickly  seize  upon  and  make  their 
own  the  coastwise  trade  of  Europe.  Moreover,  the  rivalry 
of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  in  overseas  enterprise  made 
it  possible  for  the  Dutch,  in  their  capacity  of  carriers  and 
distributors,  to  secure  many  special  concessions  from  each 
of  the  competitors.  The  Dutch  were  permitted  to  take 
cargoes  of  northern  goods  to  Brazil  and  other  American 
points  and,  in  earlier  years,  individual  Dutch  sailors  had 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      349 

evidently  been  employed  even  on  the  India  voyages.  Thus 
the  Dutch  got  a  knowledge  of  the  routes,  the  manner,  and 
the  difficulties  of  the  overseas  trade.  Because  of  their  later 
opposition  to  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Dutch  were  not  de- 
terred by  religious  scruples  from  infringing  on  the  Papal 
Iberian  monopolies.  Accordingly,  when  religious  differ- 
ences threatened  the  extinction  of  their  profitable  inter- 
mediary trade,  the  Dutch  immediately  set  out  to  remedy 
their  commercial  situation;  first  by  seeking  the  North- 
east Passage  and,  after  this  was  proved  an  impractical 
route,  by  sailing  forth  boldly  to  round  the  Cape  in  defiance 
of  the  Portuguese,  Spaniards,  and  the  Pope. 

Java  was  selected  as  an  objective ;  the  first  Dutch  expedi- 
tion to  that  island  was  moderately  successful,  the  second 
enormously  so,  and  thenceforward  the  expansion  of  the 
Dutch  East  Indian  enterprise  went  on  apace.  At  first 
there  were  many  rival  independent  Dutch  companies.  This 
entailed  competitive  buying  from  native  chiefs  in  the  East, 
and  competitive  selling  in  the  European  market.  The 
Dutch  were  sufficiently  astute  to  realize  very  shortly  that 
they  were  failing  to  attain  the  great  advantage  of  diversity- 
of -conjuncture  trade;  that  is,  of  an  inordinate  profit  on 
the  exchanges  at  each  end  of  the  route.  There  was  organ- 
ized, accordingly,  but  not  without  some  opposition,  the 
monopolistic  East  India  Company,  and  out  of  this  the 
West  India  Company  developed  later ;  and  for  many  years 
these  chartered  companies  were  supreme  in  Dutch  overseas 
commerce  and  colonization. 

As  the  Dutch  sought  trade  only  it  might  be  thought 
that  they  would  have  been  able  to  avoid  many  of  the  evils 
that  had  attended  the  regime  of  their  European  predeces- 


350  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

sors  in  the  Orient.  Such  was  not,  however,  the  case.  The 
companies  and  the  state  almost  immediately  came  under 
the  control  of  the  same  individuals,  hence  there  was  little 
governmental  interference  with  company  practices.  The 
elimination  of  all  European  rivals  from  the  East  India 
business  was  the  first  end  sought  by  the  company  and  in 
this  it  was  entirely  successful ;  the  Portuguese,  Spaniards, 
French,  Danes,  and  English  were  all  expelled  from  the 
East  within  half  a  century.  Meanwhile  the  company  es- 
tablished trading  posts  at  many  points  and  negotiated 
treaties  for  peace  and  trade  with  the  natives. 

But  long  before  the  European  competitors  had  been 
completely  ousted  from  the  field,  or  all  the  round  of  trad- 
ing-posts established,  the  company  was  experiencing  diffi- 
culties, typical  of  tropical  exploitation,  in  its  relations 
with  the  natives.  The  East  India  Company  had  been  or- 
ganized, and  existed,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  spices 
cheaply.  The  natives  of  the  Banda  Islands,  who  had 
agreed  to  sell  all  their  nutmegs  and  mace  to  the  Dutch  with- 
out stipulation  as  to  price,  found  that  the  Portuguese  and 
English  were  willing  to  pay  more  than  the  Dutch  offered. 
The  Banda  Islanders  accordingly  loaded  their  native  junks 
with  these  products  and  sold  the  cargoes  to  the  Portuguese 
or  English.  The  Dutch  governor,  on  being  apprised  of 
this,  assembled  troops,  conquered  the  Bandas,  and  then 
proceeded  to  depopulate  the  islands.  Some  of  the  Bandas 
escaped  to  other  islands,  some  died  of  hunger  in  the 
jungle,  the  few  who  survived  the  period  of  massacre  were 
compelled  to  establish  habitations  along  the  coast  where 
they  would  need  to  live  under  the  immediate  supervision 
of  the  conquerors  and  on  sites  unfitted  for  cultivation. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      351 

In  an  attempt  to  restore  production  the  Dutch  introduced 
the  plantation  system;  cultivation  under  white  overseers 
directing  slave  labour.  The  company  engaged  to  furnish 
the  rice  on  which  the  slaves  were  to  subsist,  but  found  the 
arrangement  unprofitable.  The  slaves,  consequently,  got 
only  sago  and  fish  to  eat  and,  because  this  was  an  insuffi- 
cient diet,  many  died. 

Elsewhere  the  natives  engaged  in  contraband  traffic  in 
cloves,  and  to  suppress  this  the  company  uprooted  clove 
trees  wherever  it  was  not  completely  master  of  the  situa- 
tion. Destruction  of  their  plantings  meant  privation  and 
want  for  the  natives;  their  miserable  condition  then  in- 
cited rebellion  which  the  Dutch  ruthlessly  quelled.  Native 
insurrections  and  their  suppression  by  the  use  of  troops 
marked  company  rule  in  the  East  through  all  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  the  fairly  civilized,  energetic 
Malayan  peoples  were,  as  a  result,  reduced  to  a  poverty- 
stricken  group  of  slaves. 

The  company  had,  at  the  outset  of  its. career,  no  desire 
to  hold  land  except  as  small  sites  were  needed  for  factories ; 
that  is,  trading-stations.  But  it  was  soon  realized  that  a 
trading-post  was  not  safe  except  as  it  was  protected  by  a 
fort,  and  that  a  fort  was  in  constant  danger  of  being 
attacked  unless  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding 
district  were  under  subjection.  Had  the  company  been 
content  with  the  quantities  of  the  various  commodities 
freely  produced  and  offered  for  sale  by  the  natives,  and 
paid  fair  prices  for  the  goods,  there  would,  of  course,  have 
been  no  need  either  for  the  forts  or  for  the  conquests. 
But  the  monopoly  policy  of  a  fixed,  low  price  for  each  ma- 
terial, and  no  competition  between  buyers,  led  to  rebellions. 


352  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

After  the  natives  had  been  cowed  these  uprisings  were 
regularly  made  the  pretext  for  acquiring  land.  The  native 
chiefs  perhaps  received  their  domains  back  in  fief ;  that  is, 
under  contract  to  furnish  the  Dutch  with  coffee,  pepper, 
sugar,  and  the  like  in  specified  quantities  as  tribute,  "con- 
tingents," or  at  fixed,  low  prices,  "forced  deliveries."  The 
chiefs,  in  turn,  oppressed  their  subjects  in  an  endeavour 
to  meet  the  terms  imposed,  yet,  even  so,  often  failed  in 
their  promises.  Where  the  returns  got  through  the  native 
chiefs  proved  unsatisfactory  the  land  was  sold  to  individual 
proprietors  and,  with  the  land,  the  natives  living  thereon 
also  passed  under  alien  control.  The  resident  natives 
were  then  compelled  to  labour  one  day  in  the  week  for 
their  landlords,  also  to  pay  in  to  the  landlord  one  tenth 
of  all  the  produce  of  their  private  plots,  and,  further,  to 
furnish  all  the  labour  demanded  by  the  company  for  the 
construction  and  upkeep  of  roads  and  bridges  and  for  the 
transportation  of  its  goods. 

Chinese  were  engaged  to  settle  in  the  East  Indies  and 
very  shortly  became  a  numerous  element  of  the  population. 
They  were  very  successful,  first  as  cultivators,  then,  in 
part  of  their  number,  as  middlemen  and  carriers,  and 
eventually  as  sugar  plantation  and  refinery  owners.  But 
because  they  were  so  successful  the  Chinese  were  subjected 
to  taxation,  exploitation,  and  blackmail,  and  were  even- 
tually so  ill-treated  that  they  rebelled  and  induced  many 
Javanese  to  join  them  against  the  Dutch.  The  uprising 
was  however,  quickly  suppressed,  and  as  a  punishment 
10,000  defenceless  Chinese  were  massacred  in  Batavia, 
Java. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  control  of 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      353 

the  Dutch  possessions  in  the  East  by  the  East  India 
Company  was  terminated,  and  the  government  became 
dominant.  The  English  had,  meanwhile,  so  far  encroached 
on  the  earlier  wide  empire  of  the  Dutch  that  only  the  island 
of  Java  remained  as  a  considerable  Dutch  possession,  and 
they  were  deprived  even  of  this  for  a  few  years.  When 
the  Dutch  regime  in  Java  was  restored  there  followed  a 
period  devoted  to  experimentation  with  the  reforms  intro- 
duced by  the  English,  primarily  the  substitution  of  a  land- 
tax  for  the  various  services  previously  required  of  the 
natives.  The  Dutch,  however,  eventually  subordinated 
the  English  innovations  to  a  policy  which  involved  essen- 
tially a  return  to  company  practice;  that  is,  the  introduc- 
tion of  the,  so-called,  culture  system. 

Under  the  culture  system  the  natives  were  required  to 
put  at  the  disposal  of  the  government  a  certain  proportion 
of  both  their  land  and  their  labour.  This  land  and  labour 
were  to  be  utilized  to  grow  crops  for  which  there  was  an 
export  demand,  and  the  expenses  of  administration  and 
development  were  to  be  paid  out  of  returns  got  from  those 
crops.  The  remainder  of  time  and  land  the  natives  were 
to  have  for  growing  food  crops,  primarily  rice,  and  such 
of  the  richer  cultures  as  they  could  manage.  Only  one 
fifth,  instead  of  two  fifths,  as  had  previously  been  the 
rule,  of  the  natives'  time  was  to  be  required,  and  the  gov- 
ernment engaged  to  bear  the  losses  resulting  from  crop 
failures  not  directly  chargeable  to  the  faults  of  the  culti- 
vators. 

As  proposed,  the  plan  appeared  eminently  fair,  and 
one  well  calculated  to  yield  the  desired  export  commodities 
and  revenues,  while  at  the  same  time  to  afford  the  native 


354  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

relief  from  oppression.     Eor  this  reason  it  acquired  a 
considerable  favourable  renown.     But  the  system  was  not 
administered  in  accord  with  its  humanitarian  provisions. 
There  was  no  pretence',  even,  of  adhering  to  the  stipula- 
tions fixing  the  amount  of  the  time  of  the  native  that 
might  be  requisitioned.      The   land-tax,   from  which  he 
was  supposed  to  be  henceforth   exempt,   was,   in  many 
places,  imposed  as  it  had  been  formerly,  and  the  govern- 
ment evaded  shouldering  any  losses  due  to  crop  failures. 
A  mere  pittance  was  paid  for  the  culture  crops  independ- 
ently produced  by  the  natives.    Even  so,  only  a  part  of  the 
population «came  under  the  system  at  all ;  the  rest  remained 
altogether  subject  to  the  land-tax.     This  tax  was  collected 
by  native  officials,  who  .extracted  all  they  could  get.     Na- 
tive regents  acquired  land-grants  with  rights  of  taxation 
over  the  natives  living  on  them  and  multiplied  tenfold  the 
demands  which  they  were,  in  theory,  permitted  to  make  by 
the  government.     The  cultivator  suffered  in  silence,  and 
it  was  only  as  famine,  pestilence,  and  the  actual  flight 
of  the  labourers  from  the  culture  districts  made  evident 
the  real   conditions,   that  the  failure  of  the  system,   at 
least  in  so  far  as  it  affected  the  welfare  of  the  worker,  be- 
came apparent.     Once,  however,  the  evils  of  the  culture 
system  were  thoroughly  exposed  it  was  gradually  super- 
seded by  dependence  entirely  on  free  labour,  which  now 
prevails  in   all   Java.     Meanwhile,  however,   the   Dutch 
national  treasury  had,  in  the  thirty-five  years  that  the 
system  was  in  operation,  profited  to  the  extent,  of  about 
two  hundred  million  dollars  over  and  above  all  expenses. 
The  sordid  nature  of  the  history  of  the  early  efforts  at 
tropical  development  under  the  guidance  of  the  nations 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      355 

of  western  Europe  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  preceding 
paragraphs.  To  make  the  account  complete  by  including 
references  to  English,  French,  Scandinavian,  German, 
Belgian,  Italian,  and  American  colonial  ventures  in  the 
Torrid  Zone  and  the  specific  details  relating  to  each  of 
these  enterprises  would  require  a  separate  volume.  The 
instances  reviewed  are  primarily  the  earlier  attempts,  and 
those  in  which  the  governmental  and  commercial  functions 
were  combined.  So  much  of  the  recital  as  is  here  included 
does,  however,  present  examples  varied  enough  in  kind  to 
indicate  quite  clearly  the  effects  of  European  contact  on 
the  tropical  peoples  of  different  degrees  of  advancement  in 
civilization;  and  the  record  is  a  sorry  one  in  every  in- 
stance. The  administrative  and  trading  functions  are  com- 
pletely divorced  in  most  of  the  tropical  colonies  under 
European  domination  today,  and  the  evils  of  compulsory 
native  and  slave  labour,  as  they  formerly  existed,  have 
been,  in  large  part,  suppressed.  But  neither  has  oppres- 
sion been  completely  stopped  nor  has  the  problem  of  find- 
ing labour  for  the  production  of  tropical  commodities  for 
export  been  solved  in  its  larger  aspects. 

Native  labour  is  now  theoretically  free  in  all  tropical 
areas.  In  reality,  however,  the  supply  of  labour  for  the 
production  of  exportable  goods,  and  for  governmental  en- 
terprise in  development  of  transportation  and  communica- 
tion and  public  works,  still  rests  on  some  form  of  compul- 
sion. In  one  sense  the  problem  of  tropical  labour  is  only 
a  special  case  of  the  problem  of  labour  in  the  densely  settled 
areas  of  the  Temperate  Zones ;  for  overpopulation  forces 
the  impoverished  to  accept  employment  at  wages  that 
merely  suffice  to  buy  enough  food  to  sustain  life.     The 


356  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Chinese  coolies,  the  Egyptian  fellaheen,  the  negroes  of 
Jamaica,  of  Barbados,  and  of  Porto  Rico,  when  dispos- 
sessed of  land,  must  work  if  they  would  live;  as  must 
their  temperate-land  fellow  toilers.  In  regions  of  the 
tropics  where  the  native  population  is  sparse  and  importa- 
tion of  alien  labourers  is  difficult,  or  where,  although  the 
population  is  dense,  life  is  relatively  easy  because  the  na- 
tives remain  in  possession  of  sufficient  land  to  enable  them 
to  satisfy  their  small  wants,  all  sorts  of  expedients  are 
devised  by  Occidental  exploiters  to  compel  the  services  of 
peoples  who  can  endure  continuous  and  arduous  physical 
effort  in  the  tropical  climates. 

In  Africa,  hut  and  toll  and  vagrancy  taxes  that  must  be 
paid  in  money  are  imposed,  and,  as  money  can  be  had  only 
from  the  white  man,  and  as  the  taxes  are  made  so  high  that 
the  required  sums  can  not  be  secured  in  exchange  for  the 
ordinary  native  produce,  the  negro  is  obliged  to  become 
a  day  labourer.  Where,  as  in  German  East  Africa,  the 
negroes  pleaded  employment  as  carriers  as  an  excuse  for 
not  engaging  in  the  more  disagreeable  agricultural  work,  a 
tax  was  put  on  every  trip  made  by  a  carrier.  More  com- 
monly, however,  natives  are  kept  at  work  by  some  system 
of  debt  slavery.  Advances  are  made  to  the  improvident 
workers  at  the  time  of  hiring,  and  before  the  debt  thus  first 
incurred  has  been  worked  out  the  labourers  have  become  in- 
volved for  other  amounts,  and  so  are  forced  into  permanent 
dependence.  The  rubber  gatherers  of  the  Amazon  are 
kept  at  their  tasks  by  this  system  of  debt  slavery.  Native 
labour  is  prevented  from  evading  contracts  to  work  by 
imposing  such  punishments  as  flogging,  compulsory  labour, 
and  drafting  into  colonial  armies.     The  British  Govern- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      357 

ment,  until  recent  years,  derived  a  large  part  of  the  reve- 
nues needed  for  administrative  expenses  in  India,  Hong 
Kong,  and  elsewhere  in  the  East  from  the  monopoly  sale 
of  opium,  and  twice  went  to  war  with  China  because  the 
Chinese  wished  to  stop  the  sale  of  the  drug  in  their  coun- 
try. Opium  smoking  and  gambling  are  encouraged  by  the 
British  planters  who  have  to  deal  with  Chinese  coolie 
labour  because  these  vices  keep  the  labourers  both  docile 
and  impoverished,  and  hence  continually  available  for 
further  services.1 

These  various  practices  and  expedients  to  compel  the 
necessary  labour  of  the  natives  in  maintaining  and  extend- 
ing tropical  development  do  not,  however,  meet  the 
approval  of  the  generality  of  informed  persons  in  the  tem- 
perate lands.  As  outright  slavery  was  repugnant,  prob- 
ably, to  a  majority  of  Europeans  at  the  time  when  the 
institution  flourished  in  the  south  border  zones  of  temper- 
ate lands,  so  now  there  is  a  queasiness  about  the  employ- 
ment of  measures  which,  while  they  evade  legal  infraction 
of  the  prohibition  against  slavery,  nevertheless  affect  the 
occupant  peoples  of  tropical  lands  in  much  the  same  way 
as  if  the  slave  system  were  practised  openly. 

Rubber,  sugar,  oils,  spices,  and  other  products  from  the 
tropics  are  wanted  in  the  temperate  lands,  but  it  is  discom- 

1On  this  subject  see  E.  W.  La  Motte,  "The  Opium  Monopoly," 
New  York,  1920.  For  a  defence  of  the  policy  by  a  British  author 
and  insistence  that  no  legislation,  repression,  etc.,  can  turn  the 
Chinaman  from  opium  smoking,  see  A.  Ireland,  "The  Far  Eastern 
Tropics,"  pp.  47-48,  Boston,  1905.  It  is  asserted  that  the  use  of 
opium  in  China  was  completely  suppressed  in  1917,  but  Chinese 
smugglers  from  the  Japanese-controlled  island  of  Formosa  are  bring- 
ing in  the  morphine  derivative. 


358  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

forting  to  think  that  they  are  obtained  by  the  oppression  of 
human  beings.  It  has  been  asserted  that  to  find  fault 
with  the  labour  system  of  the  tropics  as  it  now  exists  is 
mere  sentimentality;  that  labour  is  as  much  exploited  at 
home  as  it  is  in  the  equatorial  regions,  and  that  the  condi- 
tion of  labour  in  the  temperate  lands  does  not  cause  those 
who  object  to  the  coercion  of  the  coloured  races  to  have 
qualms.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that,  however 
difficult  may  be  the  position  of  certain  groups  of  toilers 
in  the  Western  industrial  nations,  those  workers  in  any 
event  are  apprised  of,  and  competent  mentally  to  under- 
stand, the  institutions  under  which  they  have  their  exis- 
tence. They  have  also  leaders  and  spokesmen  who  are 
alert  and  aggressive.  More  than  that,  individual  labour- 
ers in  the  temperate  lands  must  ascribe  their  status,  at 
least  in  some  degree,  to  their  personal  failures  in  a  compe- 
tition, the  terms  of  which  they  knew  from  childhood.  To 
take  advantage  of  the  ignorance  of  the  tropical  peoples,  or 
of  their  improvidence,  or  impoverishment,  is  not,  therefore, 
in  quite  the  same  category  as  the  exploitation  of  labour  in 
the  Western  nations.  Compulsory  labour,  furthermore,  is 
at  best,  inefficient  labour,  hence,  on  purely  economic 
grounds,  its  employment  is  not  an  adequate  solution  of 
the  tropical  difficulty. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  the 
rational  geographic  concept  that  each  of  the  regions  of  the 
earth  should  be  utilized  for  the  production  of  those  com- 
modities to  which  its  situation  and  resources  best  adapt 
it,  that  the  coloured  races  should  be  permitted  to  teem 
and  multiply  in  the  tropical  areas  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
development  that  is  demanded  by  the  industrially  advanced 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      359 

northern  peoples.  In  many  areas  of  the  tropics  undis- 
puted native  occupancy  would  be  accompanied  by  a  return 
to  tribal  wars,  voodooism,  cannibalism,  and  similar 
savageries.  If  control  and  direction  by  the  advanced 
peoples  extends  only  to  provision  of  orderly  government 
and  modem  sanitation,  crovw^ding  to  the  subsistence  limit 
will  result.  There  does  exist  ar-white  man's  burden;  a 
responsibility  for  preventing  a  return  to  savagery  on  the 
one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  over-filling  the  tropical  lands 
by  uncontrolled  breeding.  In  what  manner  this  burden 
should  be  shouldered  and  how  the  load  should  be  carried 
is  the  problem  that  must  be  solved.  The  task  has  evidently 
not  been  well  performed  in  the  past ;  can  it  be  done  better 
in  the  future  ? 

It  is  a  fair  enough  assumption  that  in  one  guise  or  an- 
other European  culture,  and  the  needs  and  standards  of 
its  civilization,  will  eventually  determine  and  direct  the 
course  of  all  tropical  development.  The  Japanese,  it  is 
true,  have  a  place  on  the  programme,  but  only  because  they 
have  already  adjusted  themselves  to  the  European  scheme 
so  completely  that  their  national  aims  and  ambitions  are 
now  exactly  parallel  to  those  of  the  Western  groups.  The 
domination  indicated  does  not  necessarily  involve  com- 
plete political  control;  China,  Siam,  Liberia,  and  Abys- 
sinia can  remain  independent,  Great  Britain  is  withdraw- 
ing from  Egypt,  as  also  she  may  later  from  India,  and 
many  citizens  are  convinced  that  the  United  States  should 
eventually  grant  independence  to  the  Filipinos.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  United  States  has  recently  become  politi- 
cally supreme  in  Haiti  and  San  Domingo,  and  has  given 
considerable  financial  support  to  Liberia ;  while  Great  Bri- 


360  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

tain  assumes  mandatory  power  in  Mesopotamia.  The  vast, 
undeveloped,  natural  resources,  commercial  and  industrial 
potentialities  of  China  are  thought  to  be  in  immediate 
prospect  of  development  in  accordance  with  the  aims  and 
purposes  of  the  West. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  situation,  thus  summarized, 
that  is  to  be  deplored,  if  it  may  be  assumed,  further,  that 
the  future  will  witness  an  increasingly  complete  under- 
standing that  a  selfish,  national  policy,  on  the  part  of  the 
Western  nations  and  Japan,  in  the  development  of  the  sev- 
eral tropical  areas,  can  not  prevail.  As  even  more  far- 
reaching  proposals  have  already  been  made,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, that  at  the  Geneva  1920  meeting  of  the  League  of 
Nations  for  the  pooling  and  apportionment  of  the  raw  ma- 
terial resources  of  all  nations,  it  does  not  seem  too  much  to 
expect  that  the  narrow  policy  of  regarding  tropical  colonies 
as  plantation  possessions  of  single  nations,  merely,  will  be 
completely  abandoned.  And  if  Great  Britain  withdraws 
from  political  control  of  Egypt  and  India,  and  the  United 
States  from  the  Philippines,  these  changes  in  control  will 
be  effected  only  after  enduring  systems  of  law  and  order 
have  been  established  in  those  regions,  when  modern  sani- 
tation and  the  facilities  of  modern  engineering  and  trans- 
portation have  been  introduced,  and  after  the  natives  have 
been  afforded  sufficient  instruction  to  enable  them  to  con- 
tinue and  extend  such  institutions  and  devices.  Western 
civilization  will  not  tolerate  personal  violence ;  it  is  hostile 
to  outworn  and  inefficient  production,  and  to  ineffective 
utilization,  or  complete  neglect  of  natural  resources. 

If  Western  civilization  erred  by  insisting  too  strongly 
on  the  sovereign  rights  of  nations,  and  has  suffered  inter- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      361 

national  anarchy  in  consequence,  it  has  also  recognized  that 
the  inharmonious  relations  implied  by  this  phrase  are 
very  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  each  national  group  has 
denied,  in  some  degree,  equality  of  economic  opportunity 
to  the  alien  national  in  its  own  lands,  and  particularly  in 
colonial  or  dependent  possessions.  Exclusion  policies  in 
tropical  regions  under  the  control  of  a  given  group  are, 
like  protective-tariff  legislation  at  home,  attempts  to  hold 
economic  opportunities  in  reserve.  When  it  becomes  more 
generally  understood  that  economic  opportunities  held  in 
reserve,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  can  at  best  eventually 
benefit  only  a  favoured  few  within  the  group,  and  that, 
meanwhile,  development  is  retarded  at  a  disproportionate 
expense  to  the  rest  of  the  group,  public  sentiment  will  be 
more  and  more  in  favour  of  progress,  independent  of 
nationality. 

Already  there  is  an  insistent  demand  that  tropical,  colo- 
nial enterprise  shall  not  be  permitted  to  yield  dispropor- 
tionately high  percentages  of  profit  through  the  oppression 
of  subject  peoples,  and  particularly  under  the  shelter,  and 
by  the  connivance,  of  political  domination.  As  now  there 
is  little  objection  to  the  investment  of  American  capital  in 
Great  Britain,  or  of  British  capital  in  France,  so  also 
it  may  be  expected  in  the  future  that  alien  entrepreneurs 
in  the  colonial  possessions  of  the  several  European  groups 
will  find  an  equally  cordial  welcome,  and  be  not  subject  to 
disabling  discriminations.  Nor  can  any  fault  be  found 
with  the  kind  of  pressure  that  is  being  put  on  China,  for 
example,  to  force  abandonment  by  her  peoples  of  ancient 
prejudices,  such  as  ancestor  worship,  which  results  in 
a  vast  acreage  of  fertile  land  being  given  over  to  burying 


362  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

grounds;  or  of  superstitions  that  stand  in  the  way  of 
mining  enterprise,  because  despoliation  of  the  earth  is  an 
injury  to  the  earth-god  essence  inherent  in  the  place.1 

If  it  be  accepted  as  rational  that  all  nationals  of  West- 
ern origin  should  compete  on  equal  terms  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  several  tropical  regions,  and  that  the  coloured 
races  should  be  made  to  abandon  customs  and  institutions 
that  interfere  with  the  fullest  utilization  of  the  areas  they 
occupy,  it  should  also  be  recognized  that  Western  civiliza- 
tion has  a  larger  obligation  to  the  native  peoples  than 
that  of  simply  not  oppressing  them.  The  natives  must  be 
accorded  equality  of  economic  opportunity  with  the  alien 
intruders  who  are  in  political  control,  and  with  those  others 
who  may  be  introduced  by  the  politically  dominant  group. 
In  fact  the  obligation  extends  beyond  this;  the  natives 
must  also  be  taught  how  to  take  advantage  of  their  oppor- 
tunity, else  they  will  be  deprived  of  their  aboriginal  or 
occupant  rights  in  the  soil. 

James  Bryce  2  has  discussed  in  some  detail  the  various 
circumstances  under  which  peoples  of  different  cultural 
origin  and  status  have  come  into  contact,  and  the  results  of 
such  contacts.  His  conclusion  is  that  the  granting  of 
equality  of  economic  opportunity,  and  making  provision 
for  the  type  of  education  that  will  enable  the  lower  race  to 
take  advantage  of  this  opportunity,  will  do  most  to  mini- 
mize the  difficulties  of  the  contact  between  a  culturally 
advanced  and  a  culturally  backward  group.  The  course  he 
advocates  has  two  great  merits;  one,  of  creating  a  respect 

*  On  this  last  see  W.  F.  Collins,  "Mineral  Enterprise  in  China." 

2  James  Bryce,  "The  Relations  of  the  Advanced  and  the  Backward 

Races  of  Mankind,"  the  Romanes  Lecture,  1902,  p.  37,  London,  1902. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      363 

for  the  lower  race  among  the  higher  one,  and,  two,  of 
soothing  the  lower  one  by  the  feeling  that  in  all  that 
touches  the  rights  of  private  life  members  of  the  backward 
group  are  treated  with  strict  justice.  Another  student  of 
tropical  conditions,  Kidd,1  who  also  is  competent  to  ex- 
press an  authoritative  opinion,  asserts,  similarly,  that  the 
right  of  equal  economic  opportunity  is  the  most  important 
single  base  for  the  uplift  of  backward  peoples. 

As  to  political  activities  and  social  recognition,  the 
problem  is  different,  and  many  different  solutions  may  en- 
sue in  different  localities,  each  one  entirely  appropriate  in 
its  place.  The  enthusiasm  of  many  liberals  for  the  indis- 
criminate political  emancipation  of  all  subject  peoples  is 
misguided.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  liberals 
should  be  so  vehement  to  secure  to  the  natives  the  govern- 
mental control  which  will  insure  that  some,  at  least,  of 
the  natives  will  enjoy  the  exploiter's  profits  that  are  gar- 
nered by  those  who  enjoy  political  favour,  even  in  the 
Western  nations  where  every  possible  legal  handicap  is 
interposed  to  the  perversion  of  government  this  involves. 
But  the  contentions  of  the  liberals  are  all  based  on  the 
ungeographic  conception  that  the  people,  and  not  the  re- 
gion, is  first.  Whatever  contributes-  to  all-round  and  effec- 
tive regional  utilization  must  also  aid  in  the  betterment 
of  human  conditions.  The  regional  utilization  here  sug- 
gested is  not  to  be  confounded  with  predatory  exploitation, 
or  even  with  the  plantation  type  of  mono-culture  that  has 
been  practised  in  the  tropics. 

But  if  the  geographical  dictum,  that  place,  in  respect  of 

1B.  Kidd,  "The  Elevation  of  the  Tropical  Races,"  Independent, 
Vol.  LVII,  p.  549,  Sept.,  1904. 


364  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

the  world's  needs,  is  of  superior  importance  to  the  parti- 
cular status  of  a  given  people  politically  and  culturally, 
then  the  educational  programme  advocated  by  an  official  in 
the  Philippine  service,  for  the  natives  of  those  islands,  is 
essentially  a  disserviceable  one.  He  urged  that  instruc- 
tion of  the  Filipinos  should  be  directed  primarily  to 
fitting  the  natives  for  political  control  of  their  domain, 
and  to  an  appreciation  of  Western,  or  their  own,  culture. 
Industrial  education,  and  the  agricultural  and  economic 
development  of  the  Islands,  he  regarded  as  altogether  of 
secondary  importance.  In  so  far  as  the  political  education 
of  the  Filipinos  is  directed  to  securing  their  independence 
of  village  oligarchies,  it  may,  of  course,  be  defended,  but 
instruction  in  politics  for  that  purpose  would  need  to  be 
only  a  subordinate  part  of  their  training,  and  so  conceived 
would  indeed  be  of  direct  significance  in  the  promotion 
of  the  economic  development  of  the  Islands. 

The  Western  nations  must  undertake,  as  a  first  task, 
the  industrial  education  of  the  backward  tropical  peoples. 
The  available  evidence  indicates  that  knowledge  of  a  handi- 
craft, or  superior  skill  in  agricultural  pursuits,  more  than 
any  other  thing,  promotes  self-respect  and  develops  a  sense 
of  responsibility  in  the  tropical  worker.  A  leader  in  edu- 
cation in  India  is  of  the  opinion  that  to  train  the  natives 
in  better  agricultural  practice  will  serve,  more  than  any  one 
other  measure,  to  improve  economic  and  social  conditions, 
and  aid  in  the  breaking  down  of  the  rigid  caste  system, 
in  the  greatest  tropical,  colonial  dominion.  A  writer  *  on 
the  Mexican  labour  problem,  after  pointing  out  how  diffi- 

1  W.  A.  Joubert,  "Problems  of  the  Mexican  Peon,"  Harper's  Maga- 
zine, Vol.  135,  p.  269,  July,  1917. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      3G5 

cult,  if  not  impossible,  it  is  to  inculcate  any  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility in  the  untutored  agricultural  peons,  asserts 
that  skilled  labourers  (carpenters,  for  example)  are  as 
independent  as  American  mechanics  and  seldom  ask  for 
an  advance  in  wages  covering  more  than  a  small  part  of 
the  job.  Jamaican  negroes,  on  the  other  hand,  altogether 
lack  a  conception  of  the  dignity  of  labour.  Their  chief 
ambition,  consequently,  is  to  acquire  sufficient  funds  to 
permit  enjoyment,  for  a  time  at  least,  of  an  idle  life  in 
town.  In  overcrowded  Porto  Rico  the  jibaros,  or  farm 
labourers,  on  the  coffee  and  tobacco  plantations  received, 
in  1916,  thirty  to  thirty-five  cents  for  a  day's  work,  those 
on  the  sugar  estates  as  much  as  eighty  cents ;  whereas  black- 
smiths and  carpenters  got  two  dollars  per  day.  The  possi- 
bility of  a  much  higher  standard  of  living  than  is  ordinarily 
the  lot  of  native  tropical  workers  is  indicated  by  the  wages 
paid  the  mechanics ;  assuming  the  paltry  sums  earned  by 
the  farm  labourers  to  be  a  measure  of  the  income  necessary 
for  mere  subsistence. 

In  this  connection  attention  may  be  directed  to  an  evil 
generally  encountered  in  the  thickly  populated  tropical  re- 
gions and  one  that  governmental  action  could  readily  abate, 
with  widespread  good  effect.  Native  loan-sharks  charge 
up  to  15  per  cent  for  the  use  of  money  and  pursue  even 
more  devious  methods  in  fleecing  their  clients  than  do 
gentry  of  the  same  profession  farther  north.  Suppression 
of  the  pernicious  activities  of  the  native  money-lenders  is 
a  problem  of  particular  importance  in  both  Egypt  and 
India. 

The  factor  that,  more  than  any  other,  prevents  the  intro- 
duction  of  industrial  education,   and  especially  manual 


366  INPIERITING  THE  EARTH 

training,  on  a  wider  scale  in  tropical  regions  of  dense  popu- 
lation is  its  cost,  both  for  equipment  and  teachers.  Where 
the  pressure  to  augment  and  improve  the  regional  equip- 
ment for  transportation  and  to  develop  public  works  of  all 
kinds  is  so  great,  and  where  consequently  the  demand  for 
reliable  unskilled  labour  much  exceeds  the  supply,  as  is 
true  of  many  of  the  tropical  areas,  it  is  difficult  to  secure 
funds  to  provide  training  to  make  skilled  workers ;  or  even, 
indeed,  to  get  the  endorsement  of  plans  to  this  end  from 
those  who  control  governmental  or  other  purse-strings. 
But  relief  in  the  over-congested  districts,  as  of  China,  can 
only  come  as  the  Chinese,  and  other  peoples  similarly  cir- 
cumstanced, are  taught  superior  agricultural  methods. 
Then  the  same  or  greater  food  production  will  be  possible 
with  less  toil,  and  the  employment  of  the  labour,  so  re- 
leased, in  diversified  industrial  pursuits,  as,  for  example, 
the  weaving  of  rugs  for  export  and  the  development  of  a 
mining  industry,  will  provide  the  money  income  for  a 
higher  standard  of  living. 

Funds  for  industrial  training,  with  consequent  diversi- 
fication of  industry  and  labour,  higher  standards  of  living, 
increased  production  of  commodities  both  for  home  con- 
sumption and  export,  if  not  immediately  in  prospect,  may 
nevertheless  be  available  in  a  not  very  distant  future. 
As  the  governmental  regimes  of  tropical  areas  are  stabi- 
lized, capital  can  no  longer  expect,  as  it  has  in  the  past, 
to  secure  inordinate  profits  from  tropical  ventures  that 
find  their  success  in  predatory  exploitation  of  natural  re- 
sources and  oppressive  use  of  native  labour,  or  both. 
Tropical  enterprise  will  be  subject  to  regulation  and  will 
be  taxed  to  the  same  degree  that  similar  business  is  in 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      367 

the  temperate  lands.  It  will  in  the  future  be  able  to  bear 
heavier  taxation  because  the  considerable  risk  of  loss  of 
principal,  which  now  handicaps  tropical  investment,  will 
be  decreased  in  the  new  order.  Where  exploitation  of  na- 
tural resources,  as  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  China,  is 
involved,  it  has  been  suggested  that  export  duties  be  levied 
on  the  commodities  secured  and  on  a  sliding  scale.  As  de- 
mand for  such  materials  is  great  and  the  price  rises,  so 
also  will  the  duty,  and  contrariwise.  In  the  case  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  mechanical  industry,  as  this  develops  in  dependent 
tropical  areas  on  the  basis  of  a  cheaper  labour  market  and 
the  lower  standard  of  living  that  will,  despite  considerable 
amelioration,  continue  to  prevail  there,  organized  labour  in 
the  home  countries  is  likely  to  demand  that  export  duties 
be  charged  on  the  industrial  products  of  colonial  origin 
in  order  that  conditions  of  production  be  equalized. 

Thus  funds  will  be  made  available  for  development  of 
community  facilities,  for  enlarging  the  equipment  for 
transportation  and  communication,  and  for  the  industrial 
education  of  the  natives  in  the  tropical  regions  of  dense 
population.  At  the  same  time  pressure  will  be  exerted 
to  raise  the  standard  of  living  among  tropical  peoples. 
The  tendency  to  an  almost  exclusive  mono-culture  in  ex- 
tensive plantations  of  sugar,  rubber,  tobacco,  or  bananas,  as 
the  case  may  be,  will  be  offset  by  a  wider  and  more  inten- 
sive utilization  of  the  land  by  the  natives  themselves  in 
a   more   diversified   agricultural   production.1      Develop- 

*G.  E.  Young,  "Walnut  Industry  Growing  in  China,"  New  York 
Times,  Sept.  12,  1920.  Importations  of  walnuts  from  China  into 
the  United  States  amount  to  over  ten  million  pounds  annually,  ac- 
cording to  United  States  Department  of  Commerce  report,  May,  1920. 


368  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

ment  of  transportation  facilities  will  afford  this  independ- 
ent native  produce  a  market,  and  the  failure  then,  in  any 
one  year,  of  the  more  extensive  plantation-culture  will  not 
of  itself  spell  disaster  to  the  inhabitants  of  a  tropical  re- 
gion. Diversified  agriculture  will  also  provide  a  more 
varied  fare  for  the  native  worker. 

The  establishment  and  secure  existence  of  native  pro- 
prietors should  furnish  the  population  generally  with  an 
incentive  to  save,  hence  to  inaugurate  widespread  accept- 
ance of  capital  or  surplus  economy,  perhaps  the  most  diffi- 
cult concept  to  inculcate  in  the  minds  of  tropical  peoples, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Chinese.  Even  if  the  majority 
of  tropical  peoples  can  not  be  induced  to  attempt  capital 
accumulation,  the  natives  can  be  taught  a  much  broader 
consumptive  economy  than  they  now  practise,  that  is,  to 
develop  a  wide  variety  of  wants.  A  particular  expedient 
that  might  be  used  to  create  new  desires  for  goods  would 
be  payment  for  services  in  merchandise.  Only  those  per- 
sons who  have  incomes  great  enough  to  permit  them  to  grat- 
ify every  personal  taste,  and  to  indulge  each  luxurious 
whim,  altogether  escape  the  lure  involved  in  occasional  pay- 
ment for  services  in  merchandise  instead  of  in  cash.  The 
promise  of  an  automobile,  for  example,  in  part  payment 
for  certain  labour  would  be  a  fascinating  prospect  to  a 
worker  among  the  sophisticated  industrial  groups :  and  the 
subjective  appeal  of  the  device  is  magnified  in  proportion 
as  a  people  is  untutored  and  uncultured.  In  the  same  way 
that  glass  beads  formerly  purchased  ivory  and  fine  pelts, 
so  now  showy  clothes,  phonographs,  and  "movies"  will 
serve  to  procure  the  labour  of  the  tropical  native  where 
a  money  payment  might  not. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      369 

If  the  workers  are  paid  in  cash  there  should  he  provided, 
immediately  at  hand,  attractive  and  desirable  goods  for 
which  the  money  may  be  exchanged.  The  opportunity  to 
secure  wanted  commodities  has  not  always  been  made  avail- 
able; and  if  it  has,  the  things  commonly  offered — liquor, 
opium,  and  firearms — were  not  exactly  conducive  to 
raising  the  standards  of  native  life.  If  an  especially  faith- 
ful and  steady  worker,  instead  of  receiving  extra  money 
that  could  only  be  spent  for  trifles,  were  provided  with  a 
house  far  superior  to  the  huts  occupied  by  his  fellow-toilers, 
envy  might  be  a  sufficient  incentive  to  induce  others  to 
work  more  steadily  in  the  hope  of  attaining  a  like  reward. 
This  would  be  an  application  of  the  idea  of  the  "bonus"  to 
tropical  conditions. 

In  the  densely  populated  tropical  areas  unskilled  labour 
by  whites  in  competition  with  that  of  the  coloured  races 
has  been  impossible  in  the  past,  not  only  on  account  of  dif- 
ferences in  physical  stamina,  but  also  on  an  economic 
basis.  This  is  true  now,  as  well,  and  probably  will  hold 
good  for  a  considerable  period  in  the  future,  because  the 
average  standard  of  existence  of  the  tropical  native  is 
so  much  lower  than  that  now,  or  formerly,  endured  by 
the  meanest  white.  The  Portuguese  discovered  this  very 
early,  when,  in  their  occupation  of  India,  they  attempted 
to  found  farm  colonies  of  whites.  Even  where  land  is 
first  being  cleared  of  the  forest  and  jungle,  white  labour 
in  the  field  is  a  feasible  programme  only  when  the  labour 
of  the  coloured  races  is  eliminated  from  competition  with 
it,  by.  for  example,  the  pursuance  of  a  White  Australia 
policy.  It  has  been  argued,  in  connection  with  the  prob- 
lems of  Japanese  immigration  into  California,  that  the 


370  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

Oriental  labourer,  working  long  hours  on  miserable  fare, 
is  in  fact  much  less  efficient  than  the  white,  working 
shorter  hours,  and  well  nourished  according  to  Western 
standards,  hence  that  as  one  white  is  as  effective  as  two 
or  three  Orientals,  the  white  can  successfully  compete  with 
the  Oriental.  This  may  be  true  of  labour  in  warm  tem- 
perate or  subtropical  belts,  but  it  does  not  apply  in  the 
rain-forest  areas  of  the  equatorial  latitudes.  A  vivid  con- 
ception of  what  manual  labour  in  such  climates  means  can 
be  had  by  reading  Maugham's  *  description  of  the  climate 
of  Liberia. 

While  enthusiastic  about  the  great  natural  resources  of 
Liberia  and  the  possibilities  the  country  offers  of  becoming 
enormously  productive  of  various  tropical  products,  it  is 
significant  that  Maugham  puts  his,  entirely  frank,  chapter 
on  "Climate  and  Health"  at  the  end  of  the  volume.  "At 
the  height  of  the  rainy  season  .  .  .  many  days  will  often 
pass  during  which  the  sun  is  entirely  obscured  ...  in  a 
nerve-shattering,  never-ending  pall  '  of  continuous  rain 
which  roars  upon  the  roof  night  and  day  until  it  produces 
a  dull  brain-weariness  which  is  not  headache  but  simply 
nerve  torment."  The  first  rainy  season  in  Liberia  con- 
tinues practically  unbroken  from  the  first  of  May  nearly 
through  July.  Then  for  a  few  weeks  the  sun  shines,  the 
heat  increases,  and,  as  the  earth  is  still  sodden,  "the  damp- 
ness is  exceedingly  trying,  and  one  seems  to  be  changing 
one's  white  clothing  all  day  long."  In  early  August  the 
rains  begin  once  more,  in  September  reach  their  maximum 

1 R.  C.  F.  Maugham,  "The  Republic  of  Liberia,"  Chap.  XII,  London 
and  New  York,  1920.  A  daily  temperature  and  rainfall  table  for  the 
year  1913  is  an  interesting  feature  of  the  book. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      371 

for  the  year,  and  only  in  middle  October  do  they  slacken 
again.  Then  mosquitoes,  propagating  unchecked  in  the 
forest  pools,  become  a  veritable  pest.  By  January  the 
dry  season  is  at  its  height,  then  the  "harmattan"  or  desert 
wind  blows  through  all  the  morning  hours,  chilly  and  in- 
tensely dry,  so  much  so  that  eyes  and  nostrils  smart,  lips 
crack,  and  finger-nails  grow  brittle.  Even  the  natives,  at 
this  time  of  year,  develop  pulmonary  complaints  that  often 
terminate  fatally.  February  has  the  distinction  of  being 
both  dry  and  pleasant.  In  March  the  sky  again  becomes 
overcast,  thunderstorms  are  frequent;  in  April  they  de- 
velop almost  to  the  violence  of  tornadoes,  blowing  in  win- 
dows and  tearing  loose  gutters  from  roofs;  by  May  the 
rains  become  continuous. 

It  should  be  noted  that  this  account  of  the  Liberian 
coast  climate  is  by  an  observer  who  was  at  no  time  of  the 
year  under  compulsion  to  engage  in  manual  labour.  Had 
he  been  obliged  to  do  physical  toil  in  this  rain-soaked  land 
his  version  of  its  climate  might  be  still  more  depressing. 
He  would  have  needed  to  work  on  practically  every  day 
of  the  year  in  temperatures  ranging  between  80  degrees  F. 
to  90  degrees  F.  and  at  the  same  time  to  resist  the  vertical 
rays  of  the  sun  which,  according  to  his  own  statement, 
have  detrimental  effects  on  Europeans  (not  properly  pro- 
tected from  them)  even  when  the  sky  is  hazy. 

The  rain-forest  regions  are  admittedly  the  most  difficult 
for  the  white  men  to  endure  of  the  tropical  climatic  va- 
riants, and  it  is  probably  true  that  the  Liberian  coast-lands 
exhibit  an  extreme  phase  of  the  rain-forest  conditions.  The 
tropical  jungle  lands  with  more  periodic  and  less  inter- 
minable rainfall,  even  in  the  rainy  season,  are  much  better 


372  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

adapted  to  occupation  by  white  peoples.  It  is  not  impossi- 
ble that  the  jungle  areas  might  be  developed  by  immigrants 
from  south  European  regions,  by  Spaniards  and  Portu- 
guese, south  Italians  and  Balkan  folk.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  just  these  Mediterranean  groups  that  have  lagged  far- 
thest behind  in  the  march  of  Western  civilization  and  are, 
therefore,  least  well  fitted  to  bring  the  tropics  to  fruition. 
Moreover,  the  jungle  lands  are  already  occupied  by  dense 
native  populations  for  considerable  portions  of  their  extent 
and  require,  therefore,  not  so  much  new  workers  as  a  more 
complete  and  better  utilization  of  the  human  energy  al- 
ready available.  The  steaming  rain-forest  regions,  which 
present  the  most  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  climatic  con- 
ditions to  the  European,  are  also  the  regions  that  are  only 
sparsely  peopled  by  the  coloured  races ;  which  have  the  in- 
terminable virgin  forests,  and  offer  the  greatest  oppor- 
tunity for  development.  When  the  problem  of  utilization 
of  the  rain-forest  lands  has  been  solved  it  will  probably  be 
found  that  the  jungle  lands  which  border  them  will  have 
been  completely  subjugated  to  the  world's  needs.  Accord- 
ingly, all  proposals  looking  toward  an  expansion  of  man's 
regime  in  the  rain-forest  lands  merit  especial  attention, 
because  whatever  can  be  successfully  applied  in  those  most 
difficult  areas  of  the  tropics  will  also  be  of  service  in  other 
tropical  regions. 

Procurement  of  the  natural  products,  removal  of  the  tree 
growth  for  plantation  purposes,  cultivation,  transportation, 
and  mineral  enterprise  in  the  equatorial  forests,  are  all 
impeded,  primarily,  by  a  lack  of  workers.  The  resident 
natives  are  either  unwilling  to  engage  in  the  necessary 
toil  or  their  numbers  are  inadequate   for  the  purpose, 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS     373 

usually  both.  Hence  the  common  resort  to  forced  labour 
under  governmental  compulsion,  to  debt  slavery,  to  such 
miserable  expedients  as  hut,  salt,  and  poll  taxes,  to  destruc- 
tion of  the  crops  or  natural  growths  on  which  the  natives 
under  primitive  conditions  depended  for  sustenance,  to  en- 
couragement of  the  opium  traffic,  and  to  other  devices  of 
similar  import ;  all  designed  to  compel  the  services  of  the 
coloured  races  without  rendering  an  adequate  return. 
These  measures  are  all  wrong  in  principle,  and  the  prac- 
tices they  involve  ought  to  be  abandoned  as  rapidly  as 
possible,  not  only  on  ethical  grounds  but  also  because,  in 
the  main,  they  do  not  serve  effectively  to  procure  the  re- 
sults desired. 

Unskilled  labour,  almost  exclusively,  is  needed  for  the 
development  of  the  sparsely  populated,  primeval,  rain- 
forest regions  of  the  tropics.  Very  little  could  be  ac- 
complished under  the  present  conditions  in  those  areas  by 
recourse  to  agricultural  and  industrial  training  even  if  it 
were  possible  to  attempt  anything  of  that  kind.  The  im- 
mediate solution  of  the  labour  problem  in  the  equatorial 
wet  lands  is  apparently  to  be  found  in  an  extension  of  the 
contract  system  that  already  has  a  considerable  vogue,  but 
with  additional  safeguards  to  the  labourer.  Where  im- 
ported, contract  labourers  are  used  it  should  also  be  a 
wTell-defined  policy  to  provide  all  possible  incentives  to  the 
coolies  to  become  permanently  resident  in  the  region  of 
their  labour  activities.  Among  these  incentives  the  par- 
ticular feature  could  well  be  to  furnish  the  coolie  with 
living  conditions  far  superior  to  those  available  to  his  class 
in  the  congested  population  districts  of  the  regions  from 
which  he  has  been  transported. 


374  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

The  extension  of  the  practice  of  importing  coolies  from 
China  and  India,  a  system  that  is  already  developed  on  a 
large  scale,  would  serve  a  number  of  purposes  leading  to 
the  rational  and  enduring  regional  occupation  of  the  equa- 
torial areas.  First  of  all,  the  development  could  be  under 
European  direction  and  superintendence,  and  so  guided  as 
best  to  satisfy  the  commercial  requirements  of  the  world. 
In  the  sparsely  peopled  African  and  South  American  re- 
gions, where  the  coolies  could  be  used  to  greatest  advantage, 
alien  or  resident  whites  are  already  dominant  politically, 
and  the  natives  are  not  competent  themselves  to  develop 
either  political  or  industrial  organizations,  and  have  not. 
exhibited  any  disposition  to  do  so.  The  whites  engaged  in 
supervision  of  the  work  would  not  remain  permanently  in 
residence,  tut  would  return  periodically  to  the  middle  lati- 
tudes for  rest  and  recuperation,  and  would  thus  preserve 
their  health,  vitality,  and  energy. 

If  instead  of  making  all  dispositions  looking  to  the  re- 
turn of  the  coolie  to  his  native  place,  after  a  very  short 
period  in  the  service,  as  is  now  done,  the  emphasis  of  the 
arrangement  were,  on  the  contrary,  put  on  securing  the 
labourer  as  a  permanent  resident  in  the  new  field,  and, 
as  suggested  above,  under  much  better  living  conditions 
than  he  had  at  home,  the  conditions  of  the  contract  could 
nevertheless  be  adjusted  so  that  while  they  would  permit 
of  the  systematic  culling  out  of  all  desirable  individuals 
in  the  labour  force,  and  establishing  these  as  free  labourers 
in  the  locality,  the  undersirables  would  continue  to  be  de- 
ported to  their  place  of  origin.  The  net  results  of  a  pro- 
gramme of  this  kind  would  be  to  establish,  in  time,  alien 
coloured  populations  in  the  rain-forest  lands,  educated  to 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      375 

appreciate  a  decent  and  comfortable  standard  of  living, 
and  to  the  economic  opportunities  of  their  new  homes,  and 
receiving  a  wage  sufficiently  high  to  permit  competent 
individuals  to  acquire  an  economic  status  above  that  of 
the  unskilled  labourer. 

The  importation  of  women,  as  well  as  men,  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  normal  family  life,  would  be  an  essential 
feature  of  the  scheme.  Regulations  tending  to  eliminate 
evil  customs  and  practices  could  be  drawn  up  and  enforced 
in  the  new  colonies  to  a  degree  that  would  be  impossible 
in  the  environments  from  which  coolie  labourers  are  se- 
cured. Notable  progress  in  freeing  Oriental  peoples  from 
age-old  traditions,  that  are  in  many  cases  a  handicap  to 
their  economic  progress,  would  be  initiated  if  it  should 
prove  feasible  to  establish  a  more  enlightened  social  order 
in  the  new  population  centres. 

The  native  population,  if  unfitted  to  participate  in  the 
development  of  the  country,  could  be  treated  politically 
and  socially  as  were  the  American  Indians  in  the  United 
States ;  though  perhaps  it  should  be  added  that  more  in- 
telligence ought  to  be  exercised  in  the  adjustment  of  native 
rights  and  claims  than  was  displayed  in  the  administration 
of  the  affairs  of  the  American  Indian. 

The  great  reservoirs  of  population  in  China  and  India 
are  the  immediately  available  sources  from  which  the 
initial  supply  of  contract  labourers  could  be  secured.  Of 
the  two,  the  Chinese  are  by  far  the  superior  group.  In  the 
first  place,  they  have  the  physical  endowment  that  permits 
them  to  toil,  to  endure,  and  to  reproduce,  under  tropical 
conditions,  in  a  measure  possessed  by  no  other  people. 
Whether  this  is  due  to  the  hard  conditions  of  life  in 


376  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

China,  which  act  to  bring  about  a  natural  selection  of  the 
fit,  as  argued  by  Ross1  (who  states  that  the  Japanese 
found  that  in  Formosa  the  Chinese  lose  half  their  children 
before  they  are  six  months  old,  also,  that  of  ten  children 
born  in  China  only  two  grow  up,  whereas  seven  out  of  ten 
American  children  reach  maturity)  or  to  the  natural 
hardiness  of  the  Chinese  people,  is  perhaps  an  open  ques- 
tion. Yet,  as  Ross  contends,  if  at  birth  the  yellow  and 
white  infants  are  equal  in  stamina,  the  two  Chinese  who 
grow  up  ought  to  possess  greater  strength  of  constitution 
than  the  seven  whites.  Survival  of  the  fit,  only,  among 
the  Chinese  also  explains  why,  despite  the  high  infant 
mortality,  famine  deaths,  pestilence,  war,  and  natural 
disasters  it  is  possible  for  the  Chinese,  nevertheless,  to 
keep  the  population  of  their  country  up  to  the  limit  on 
numbers  fixed  by  the  ultimate  quantity  of  food  that  can 
be  produced  in  the  various  districts  of  China  by  Chinese 
methods  of  cultivation. 

However  this  may  be,  the  hard  conditions  of  life  in  their 
native  environment  have  imposed  on  the  Chinese  habits 
of  thrift  and  frugality,  and  a  willingness  to  toil  unceas- 
ingly, not  possessed  by  other  tropical  workers.  Where  the 
Chinese  have  gone,  or  been  introduced,  in  Java,  in  the 
Philippines,  in  Hawaii,  they  have  in  a  very  short  time 
secured  possession  of  land,  become  shop-keepers,  and  even 
industrial  promoters  on  a  larger  scale.  These  are  com- 
mendable qualities  in  prospective  settlers  of  undeveloped 
tropical  lands.  That  the  Chinese  have  displaced  the 
indolent,  and  perhaps  less  efficient,  natives  in  the  areas 

JE.  A.  Rosa,  "The  Growth  of  Population,"  Birth  Control  Review, 
Vol.  IV,  No.  3,  p.  5,  March,  1920. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      377 

they  have  invaded,  and  are,  therefore,  cordially  hated  by 
the  indigenous  groups,  is  to  be  expected,  and  ought  not  to 
be  found  a  fault,  even  if  the  natives  had  qualities  that 
more  endeared  them  to  the  Caucasian  nationalities  than 
do  those  of  the  Chinese.  Another  characteristic  of 
the  Chinese  that  makes  them  especially  adapted  for  a 
programme  of  colonization  in  the  equatorial  rain-forest 
areas  is  that  they  have  little  interest  in,  inclination  or  apti- 
tude for,  government.  They,  more  than  any  other  group, 
would  be  content  that  the  political  control  of  a  region 
where  they  lived  and  worked  should  be  in  alien  hands. 
The  Chinese  could  be  a  nation  in  a  new  home  without  also 
desiring  to  constitute  themselves  a  state. 

While  imported  contract  labour  is  already  being  utilized 
very  extensively  in  the  development  of  tropical  regions, 
there  is  no  prospect  that  it  will  immediately  be  resorted 
to  on  the  vast,  scale  contemplated  in  the  foregoing  argu- 
ment. Moreover,  the  conditions  of  its  employment,  now, 
are  quite  different  from  those  advocated.  Nevertheless  it 
is  interesting  to  contemplate  the  possibilities  of  the  pro- 
posal as  applied  to  a  specific  area.  If  Brazil,  for  example, 
should  make  arrangements  with  the  Chinese  Government 
to  permit  the  emigration  and  expatriation  of  thousands  of 
Chinese  men  and  women  of  the  coolie  class,  such  immi- 
grants could  be  established  almost  immediately  in  the 
Amazon  basin  and  set  at  the  task  of  clearing  off  the  prime- 
val forest,  preparatory  to  the  use  of  the  land  for  rice  and 
rubber  plantations.  Similarly,  the  imported  Chinese  could 
be  used  in  opening  up  Brazil's  vast  mineral  resources,  and 
in  building  the  transportation  lines  that  are  needed  to 
make  these  ores  available  at  the  coast.     It  is  to  be  under- 


378  INHERITING  THE  EARTH 

stood,  of  course,  that  the  Chinese  would  not  be  introduced 
indiscriminately,  and  as  a  horde.  Each  settlement  of 
Chinese  coolies  would  need  to  be  established  for  a  definite 
purpose  and  with  a  definite  project  in  view.  As  this  is  the 
practice  now  wherever  coolie  labour  under  contract  is  em- 
ployed, expansion  of  the  system,  with  the  modifications 
proposed,  ought  not  to  occasion  any  serious  difficulties. 
As  development  proceeded,  larger  and  larger  areas  of 
the  primeval  forest  lands  would  be  cleared,  settled,  and 
cultivated  by  the  Chinese  workers. 

The  various  colonies  could  be  permitted  a  large  degree 
of  autonomy  in  the  administration  of  the  government  of 
each  settlement,  but  would  be  excluded  from,  or  restricted 
in,  participation  in  the  state  affairs  of  Brazil.  In  social 
matters  there  would  need  to  be  strict  segregation  of  whites 
and  Chinese,  but  so  managed  that  the  difficult  situation 
which  exists  in  the  United  States  between  whites  and 
blacks  would  not  be  duplicated.  There  might  even  be 
regulation  of  marriage  between  Chinese.  Thus  the 
savage  and  Oriental  custom  of  the  child-wife  could  be 
abolished.  Permission  to  marry  might  be  granted  to 
Chinese  males  only  after  each  individual  applying  had 
satisfied  a  property  qualification.  The  conditions  sug- 
gested would  serve  to  restrict  the  birth-rate,  to  diminish 
the  size  of  families,  and  to  insure  that  the  children  of 
the  colonists  could  be  brought  up  in  conformity  with  a  de- 
cent standard  of  living.  Incidentally,  the  wholesale  emi- 
gration necessary  might  also  relieve  the  congestion  of 
population  in  China  sufficiently  to  insure  freedom  from 
famine  in  the  homeland. 

In  Africa,  especially  in  the  British  possessions,  first 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  THE  TROPICS      379 

recourse  would  undoubtedly  be  had  to  the  surplus  of 
Indian  coolie  labour.  Greater  difficulties  would  be  en- 
countered in  establishing  Indian  colonies  in  Africa  than 
of  Chinese  in  Brazil,  on  account  of  the  political  and  social 
factors.  For,  unlike  the  docile  and  thrifty  Chinese,  the 
Indian  groups  are  politically  minded.  Equality  of  eco- 
nomic opportunity,  only,  would  not,  probably,  satisfy  all 
the  aspirations  of  the  Indian  colonists,  once  they  became 
firmly  established  in  their  new  homes. 

Each  of  the  many  tropical  areas  constitutes  a  separate 
problem,  for  each  presents  a  different  combination  of 
conditions — geographical,  economic  and  political.  And 
even  if  these  pages  could  be  extended  to  include  discus- 
sion of  the  many  regions  involved,  it  would  not  be  pos- 
sible to  present  the  situation,  because  the  data  on  which 
the  studies  should  be  based  are  not  available.  Competent 
and  unbiassed,  regional,  geographic  surveys  of  the  equa- 
torial lands  have  not,  as  yet,  been  made.  In  the  tropics, 
as  elsewhere,  understanding  how  enduring  adjustment  of 
human  life  to  the  land  may  be  brought  about,  awaits 
the  completion  of  comprehensive  geographic  studies  of 
the  varied  regions  they  comprise.  Only  as  all  the  con- 
ditions of  every  environment  are  made  known  and,  being 
known,  are  taken  into  full  account,  will  the  human  race 
be  able  to  realize  completely  its  great  heritage — all  the 
regions  of  the  earth. 


^r 


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